ღ Just the Three of Us ღ
by Lolly4Holly
Summary: Trying to cope with fatherhood is tough, especially when Greg suspects the other father is hiding something from him and the past is catching up on both of them, giving Nick and Greg a whole new set of challenges to deal with. FIN! No. 2 - BABY MAKES 3
1. Chapter 1: Into the Fire

**Just the Three of us**

**Sequel to 'Baby Makes Three'!**

_You may want to read the first one before this one so that it makes more sense to you._

**Author:** Lolly4Holly

**Beta:** **Alisa123** – Thanks so much for your help beta-ing this one Alisa, I owe you one girl :D

**Rated:** **(M – T) NC-17**

**Pairings:** Nick/Greg slash – might be some minor GSR and Cath/Warrick along the way too.

**Summary:** Trying to cope with fatherhood is tough, especially when Greg suspects the other father is hiding something from him and the past is catching up on both of them, giving Nick and Greg a whole new set of challenges to deal with...

**Disclaimer:** I do not own CSI or any of its characters. I don't own any of the episodes/quotes or song lyrics I may have used either, I'm just borrowing them for Nick/Greg slash fans everywhere :D

**Warnings:** Adult content. **M/M** slash relationship. **M-Preg**, my second fic after 'Baby Makes Three.' Starts in season 3 episode 22, so spoilers from then on which most of you should have seen :D

**Author Note:** After getting so many requests for the sequel, I decided to sit down on my night off to write the first chapter, and here's what I came up with. As always I would really appreciate your reviews. This is my second **M-preg** story the sequel to '**Baby Makes Three'**. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, but hopefully I should be able to get one chapter to you every week, if I have time. This story has a little more **Angst** then the last one, since they're already together so there needed to be in order to keep you entertained :D

Opens on **Season 3 Episode 22 – Play with Fire!**

Thank you so much to: **Rachey33 – Jazmingirl – Alisa123 – Katsukura – almostkaity – burrollie – DeliciousSin – Dark Angel Kira – ElisaFanOfSlashers – CrazedCSIJunkie – Noyu123 – Dreamer22 – ken627 – CMAli 1 – janet1982 – nickygirl2405** for either your reviews and your requests for me to write a sequel!

I hope you enjoy this story too. I know sequels are never as good as the first one, but I tried to make it more interesting with lots of new challenges for them to go through. Last chapter of '**Baby Makes Three'** ended around April 2001 (around 25 months ago from start of this one)

**Thanks for reading, please Review!**

* * *

**Chapter One: Into the Fire**

_May 8th 2003_

Excited to be returning to work after his week off, Greg hurried to get dressed once he emerged from the shower then made his way off to the kitchen, immediately hearing his baby girl's garbled baby babble from her high chair across the room. Tantalized by the delicious smell wafting through the kitchen, Greg searched around for the source, finding that the delicious chicken smell was coming from the oven. "Nick?" He shouted through the house, wondering where he had got to. "Nicky?"

Hurrying into the kitchen at the sound of his name, Nick gave Greg a quizzical look as he stepped around the counter. "Whatsup?"

"You made dinner?" Greg indicated towards the oven behind him. "Since when do you ever make dinner?"

"Hey, I _can_ cook." The older man protested as he stepped around Greg to check on the dinner behind him. "I figured you'd want a full home cooked meal for your first day back. And I _have_ cooked for you before, G." He pointed out to him.

"Yeah... Mac and cheese, bacon and eggs, warmed up a pizza... nothing this extreme though." Greg snickered softly as he took a seat at the counter beside his little girl. "What's the real occasion?"

"Can I not treat you every once in a while?" Nick directed an innocent smile at his significant other before he pulled some oven gloves on to protect his hands then removed the dinner from the oven, serving out onto two separate plates. He then served out the vegetables, checking his presentation was immaculate before he served it to Greg.

"If this is about that moving to Texas thing again... no way." Greg shook his head as Nick set down the plate in front of him. "You can treat me all you like, but nothing you say or do will ever make me want to move there."

"This meal has no ulterior motive. All you have to do is eat it." Nick assured him, handing him a set of utensils before he sat down opposite him. "Besides, that was _never_ my idea. That was my family's idea so that Danielle could play with her cousins more often."

"And by cousins you mean your sister's kids who shoved Danielle into a bucking horses' field?"

"Yeah, that was bad." He agreed.

"Bad?" Greg almost choked on his mouthful of food. "She coulda been killed. And don't say 'kids will be kids." He muttered in an annoyed tone.

"Okay, no need to get so defensive, G. I didn't even cook this for that reason, so why bother rippin' open old wounds and bringin' it up?"

Greg just glared at his partner, not wanting to get into yet another argument about his family and what they let fly in their family's average social gatherings. Greg blamed himself more than Nick's sister's kids anyway. He was the one who let his barely two year old daughter go with them to the horses' field after dinner. His mother was always warning him to watch out for her more often as kids got into all kinds of bumps and scrapes, especially on ranches with other kids to run around and play with.

"This is really good." Greg decided to compliment his significant other who could barely cook toast properly. "My mom give you the recipe?" He naturally assumed.

"You know it." Nick chuckled softly. "I tweaked it a little. Like I didn't use fresh vegetables, I used frozen. And the chicken breast pieces came pre-marinated." The cheater revealed his secrets. "But I roasted the potatoes myself, and cooked everythin' from scratch."

"Anyone can roast a potato." Greg grinned across the counter at him then decided to compliment him again as he could really use the ego boost. "But you definitely roast the best." The younger man winked at him.

"Why thank you honey." Nick winked back at him then watched Greg's expression as he stuffed another forkful of food into his mouth. "You hate it, don't you?"

"No... the carrots are just kinda..." Lifting one from his plate with his hand, Greg struggled to snap the baby carrot in his hands, showing Nick it was still frozen. "But everything else is great." He assured him then went to plunge his fork into the stem of broccoli, flinching as it skid out from under his fork and slid onto the floor beneath him. "Maybe next time you use the frozen vegetables, you should cook em a little longer?" He suggested, struggling not to laugh.

"Okay . . . how about I stick to the domestics of cleanin', while you do the cookin'? Since everyone in this house seems to prefer your cookin' to mine, it works out nicely." Nick smirked as he looked towards Danielle who had only eaten the parts of her dinner that she liked the colour of, leaving the rest of the gooey mess in a heap in the middle that she occasionally poked at with the spoon in her sticky hands. "What are you gonna do with her tonight?" Nick suddenly queried as he didn't remember making plans to have someone sit her.

"My mom's back from her vacation today." Greg reminded him then lifted Nick's wrist to look at his watch as he had left his in the bedroom. "She should be here any minute now. Whoever finishes shift first can pick her up in the morning." Greg suggested as he climbed to his feet to clear away the plates. "She said that we could pretty much depend on her full time now that I'm back to work full time."

"And she doesn't want anythin' in return?" The Texan watched his partner's reaction, knowing what he was going to say before it passed his lips. "Right, quality time with her one and only grandchild is payment enough."

"That's what she always says." Greg smirked before he pecked a kiss to Nick's cheek then leant over his shoulder to lift his finished plate into his hands. "Besides, we get free... night-care for Danielle while we're working. Who are we to argue with the best grandmother in the world?" He snickered as he loaded the dishwasher according to his partner's standards then turned it on so they could empty it once they got back.

"We're leavin' in less than half an hour." Nick tapped his watch as he climbed to his feet to clean up the baby. "Was she still drivin' when she called you?"

Greg nodded as he looked round at the clock on the wall. "She can always sleep in the break room until my mom gets here. Its right across the hall from my lab and Grissom said before that he didn't mind, just as long as she didn't disturb anyone."

"Okay." Lifting the sticky little girl from her high chair, Nick whispered something to her then carried her off to her bedroom to get her cleaned up. Greg cleaned up the mess on her serving tray then head off into the bedroom to check the overnight bag, checking that he had remembered to pack everything.

As time ticked by and still no call from his mother on her whereabouts, Greg decided to text her to tell her that he was going to take her into the lab with him so he wouldn't be late for work. Once Greg received a message back from her, he loaded everything into his car then head back into the house to retrieve his sleepy child from his lover's arms.

"Thank you, you might wonna change your shirt there, Tex." Greg pointed out the sticky finger marks on his shirt, giving him a wide smile as Nick grunted in annoyance. "There's clean ones in the closet, I just ironed them." Greg grinned as he lifted Danielle onto his hip.

"Thank you, hun." Nick stopped him from leaving by pressing a kiss to his lips. "I love you, and if I don't see you, have a good day."

"I will. I love you too. Say goodbye to daddy." Greg whispered to the little girl in his arms.

"Buh bye, Dada." His two and a half year old responded, waving her little hand at him as she rested back against her other fathers shoulder, messing up her little pigtails of dark brown hair even more.

"Goodbye baby girl, sweet dreams." Nick waved after his family then turned to clean up the sticky clothes he had changed his daughter out of. Nick always liked to leave a clean house behind, especially after all of the crime scenes he had been to, so he quickly cleaned up all the other rooms, leaving no trace of mess anywhere.

Once he was done, Nick grabbed his car keys then head off to his truck in the driveway, ready to head into work.

* * *

As another night shift dawned at the crime lab, the day shift CSI's started to pack up their cases, finishing off the last few details so they could head home and get some sleep before their next shift started. Day shift supervisor Conrad Ecklie made his way off through the lab halls towards his office so he could finish filing away the case files he had open on his desk. He glanced up as one of the night shift CSI's Catherine Willows walked by, giving her a slight wave as she looked in at him.

Catherine knew it was going to be a bad day now. Ecklie was like the unlucky charm of the building.

Continuing on through the hall, Catherine made a pit stop at the break room to grab herself a coffee. Setting her purse down on the counter, Catherine started to brew a fresh pot with the young DNA lab technician's secret stash of Blue Hawaiian coffee mix. Luckily, none of the day shift crew knew where to find it so there was still plenty left to keep the night shifters awake.

"Good Evening." She greeted her own supervisor as he made his way into the break room. "Christ Gil, weren't you wearing that shirt this morning?" She noticed the same shirt, only it was more crumpled as he removed his jacket, hanging it over the back of one of the chairs.

"Yeah, I got caught up in work. I slept on the couch then realised I had to get back in for another shift." He smirked, setting down his case files on the table. "Is there coffee?"

"Just brewing some now." She nodded as she turned back to the pot to pour out two coffees into the labs clean mugs. "What have you got for me today then?" She inquired as she saw the assignment slips on top of his case files.

"Oh, I'll put you with Warrick. Wife reported her deceased husband. She found him in the garage where he was meant to be fixing the car, but he's now dead." Searching through his pile, Grissom found the right one then handed it over to her. "Warrick should be in soon. I already called him to tell him he's with you."

"Thanks." Catherine handed her tired supervisor his cup of coffee then took a sip of her own as she read the address off the slip in her hands. "Oh Gil, you really gotta send me to the worst parts of town huh?"

"We go wherever the job leads us." Grissom smiled at her as he re-gathered his things and carried them off out the door towards his office down the hall. Balancing everything in one arm, Grissom fumbled with his handful of keys, searching for the right one so he could get into his office. Once the door was open, Grissom turned his head towards the reception desk, spotting Greg signing in with the baby in his arms. "Greg, you know you can't bring her in here." He immediately scolded him.

"Five or ten minutes, tops." The young lab technician insisted as he carried his sleeping child over towards where his supervisor was stood. "The babysitters running late so she's gonna pick her up from here instead. She's asleep though, so she'll be really quiet." He assured him as he held the sleeping infant against his chest.

Grissom let out a long drawn out sigh as his eyes turned to look around the labs. "Okay, keep her in the break room until your sitter gets here. Oh and Greg . . . don't let Ecklie see you." He quickly warned him.

"Got it, boss." Greg gave him a slight smile then searched around for Ecklie before he hurried off towards the break room, checking Ecklie wasn't inside before he slipped in through the door. "Hi Catherine." He immediately greeted her.

"Hey Greggy." Catherine turned her head to watch the usually very immature lab tech set down his baby on the sofa, tending to her like a professional. "What's wrong, you couldn't get a sitter for tonight? You know how Ecklie feels about bringing kids into the building."

"Ecklie will never find out because my sitter will be here any minute." He assured her as he tucked the blanket around his infant. Taking a seat beside her, Greg rechecked he had everything in her bag then looked up towards Catherine as he smelt something. "Is that my coffee?"

"Yeah, did you want?" She offered, indicating towards the empty cups. Greg gave her a nod as he set down his child's bag of things on the floor beside her. "So, how are the terrible twos going?" Catherine snickered as she handed him a hot cup of his coffee. "Lindsay was a real nightmare in her twos and threes. Especially her little tantrums when she couldn't get her own way."

"Actually, she's been pretty good." Greg confessed while Danielle remained fast asleep beside him, softly sucking on the dummy in her mouth. "She's fussy about the foods she eats, but she doesn't throw that many tantrums, and Nick has this perfect little technique to send her right off to sleep. Everything's pretty perfect." He proudly stated as he took a sip of his coffee.

Catherine drew her eyebrows together as she looked down at him. "Nobody's life is perfect. You're either in denial or you're lying."

"I'm not lying, and I'm not in denial. We have our moments... like Nick's family for example. They're a big issue."

"Really, why?" Taking a seat on the coffee table, the curious CSI looked the young father in the eye as she waited to hear the reasons that kept his life from being completely perfect as with her it was always her husband or the fact she worked too much.

"Well... like Nick's sister Kayla. She had her baby boy five months after Danielle was born and he's doing all of his firsts before her. They're even potty training him now, but Danielle's still in diapers."

"I kept Lindsay in diapers until she was three. Don't sweat it Greggy, kids do things at all different stages." She assured him.

"Yeah, but Nick's family don't see it that way. They think it's all down to my shoddy parenting while Nick's always the good guy. They think he's only staying with me for the baby." Greg mumbled as he leant back against the sofa cushions behind him. "Nick always assures me that he isn't, but... I don't know. He seems to respect his family's decisions more than he does mine."

"He's only just started to rebel against his family after thirty years Greggy, give him some credit." Catherine gave him a soft smile then gently tapped his knee. "But we all know Nicky loves you. He's not just with you because of Danielle, she's just the bonus." She assured the younger man, giving him a warm smile as he looked up at her. "Trust me Greggy; Nick loves you... with all of his big ole Texas heart."

Before Greg could reply, Warrick appeared in the doorway. "Aww, it's little Greg and mini Greg." He chuckled his way over to the coffee pot. "Ecklie's gonna kill you if he sees you brought her in again Sanders, remember the last time?"

"The last time she was here a total of two minutes and he completely freaked out at me." Greg remembered than gave out a soft chuckle as he looked round at his daughter. "I think he's just afraid of little people with their little hands and brains bigger than his."

Warrick threw his head back in laughter then leant back against the counter behind him. "Well he always hands cases with dwarfs over to his other CSI's. Looks like you've finally discovered the old weasel's weakness there Greggo."

"Don't be too sure." Catherine spoke up as she turned her head to look round at Warrick. "I've met some of his family and I heard that his older brother is a... little person."

"Maybe that's where his issues started?" Warrick suggested with a smirk then caught sight of the slip on the table. "This one ours?"

"Yep, I was just waiting for you to get in." Catherine gently tapped Greg on the knee as she climbed to her feet then head across the break room to retrieve her purse off the counter. "You can drive. See yah later Greggy."

"Bye." Greg waved to them both as they head off out the break room door, heading straight towards the locker room to grab their kits ready for shift.

"You're in a good mood." Catherine noticed her partners skip in his step as they entered the locker room. "Who's the girl?"

"What makes you think that my good mood has anything to do with a woman? Not everything is about women Catherine." He laughed as he swapped his jacket for his CSI vest then rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbow before he grabbed his kit and checked it was fully stocked.

"Maybe because I know you and you're wearing one of your best shirts today when you know we're going to a crime scene?" The CSI smirked as she knew her friend all too well.

"Well, I don't usually discuss my conquests with the ladies because it's impolite, but there were definite sparks with my... lady friend date last night." Warrick snapped his kit shut then pulled his keys from his jacket pocket before he closed up his locker, checking the flashlight in his vest still worked and that he had his ID in his pocket as he didn't want to arrive at his crime scene without it. "You'll meet her eventually, don't worry about it Cath. I'll even tell you about her on the way if you're good." He assured her as she continued to give him a quizzical look. "So, you ready or not?"

"Ready." As much as she hated to hear about his dates, she was curious to know what he liked about this woman and to know what this woman had that she didn't. Closing up her locker, Catherine checked she had her own ID before she followed Warrick out into the hall, meeting Nick at the elevators. "Hey Nicky, you're running late aren't you?" She remarked as she tapped her watch.

"Had to run somethin' down to Brass." The Texan explained himself as he stepped up to the front desk to sign himself in. "Have fun." He waved after the two of them then head off down the hall towards his supervisor's office as he had received a message from him to see him straight away.

Lightly tapping his knuckles on the door before he stepped into the office, Nick cleared his throat to make his supervisor look up at him. "Oh Nicky, good you're here. Homicide at the Highschool football stadium." He announced, handing the slip over to him once he reached his desk. "Brass is gonna meet us there, getcha kit stocked. I'll be there in a sec."

"Okay." Nick nodded to him then made his way off towards the locker room to gather his things.

Once Grissom finished with the paperwork sat on his desk in front of him, he grabbed his jacket and kit, meeting Nick in the garage by one of the labs Denali's. Grissom climbed straight into the driver's seat as he was the only one that Nick ever let drive him to a crime scene as he was his boss and he couldn't argue with him.

Grissom quickly started up the car once Nick was in, driving them both straight off towards the school to get on with their first case of the shift.

* * *

Warrick pulled back into the crime lab parking lot after spending three hours at their crime scene, searching for anything they could that would lead them to their victims cause of death. Catherine climbed out of Warrick's car first, feeling the cold of the night brushing against her skin. Catherine readjusted her hair into a ponytail then stepped round to the back of his car, reaching for her kit and the few bags of evidence sat beside it. Warrick opened the door on the other side, lifting out the two boxes of evidence for her like the perfect gentleman he was.

Even though she had to listen to his entire date with Christi York, he was still considered a gentleman in her books.

"So, you're seeing Christi again this weekend?" She queried as she led the way off towards the elevator. "What are you guys gonna do?"

"Dinner. She's cooking." Warrick answered, following close behind her. "She said since I paid for the first date, she wants to treat me to a home cooked meal as I told her how my grandma always used to cook for me and I haven't really eaten a decent meal in a while..."

"She seems nice." Catherine cut him off, resting her back against the cold metal of the lift. "I never really cook for me and Lindsay anymore either. I never get the time." _I never get asked on dates anymore either._ She thought to herself as she enviously looked over at the man she was in love with that was constantly thinking about other women that weren't her. "In fact, the only family meal I really eat anymore is the occasional breakfast with you guys." She smirked as the lift doors opened onto their floor.

"Yeah, me too. Unless you count the dinners that Sanders cooks." Catherine raised her eyebrows as she looked round at him. "When I go over to Nick and Greg's, Greggo's always cooking for Nick and he offers me some too." He quickly explained himself in case she thought he was secretly dating Greg. "He's not a half bad cook either."

Catherine chuckled as they head off towards the evidence vault. She tried the door, but it was locked and they didn't have a key on them. Stepping up to the glass, Catherine peered inside to see if she could see anyone, but it was completely again. "Damn, empty."

"I guess we're still between shifts." Warrick checked his watch as he looked around the lab. "Or maybe they're on break... again." He smirked.

"We'll have to log this stuff in later." She complained as she looked at the things in their hands. "At least we get a break before our next case."

"Yeah." Warrick agreed, following her off towards the print lab. "You know, Detective O'Riley told me that he interviewed our victim's wife while we were searching the house. She said that her husband was in the garage drinking and just... 'done fell over." He directly quoted her.

"Ha, yeah the ever popular DFO." She laughed as she dropped off her fingerprints on Jacqui's desk then head off through towards the DNA lab to drop something off with Greg, only he wasn't there. "That's right up there with the 'mysterious dude' defence." She snickered as she opened up the fume hood, setting the container in her hands next to the burn plate. "Honestly, do people really believe we're stupid enough to fall for some of these excuses they think up? Just like Lindsay, she broke one of my mother's china plates that she gave me and Eddie as our wedding china because it's been in the family for years. I found one of the plates broken in the dishwasher, in her defence she said it was like that when she picked it up out of the cupboard, so that means that she decided to eat off it then put it in the dishwasher anyway."

Warrick threw his head back in laughter, shaking his head at her as they left the lab together. "You shoulda heard some of the excuses I used to give my grandma when I didn't want to get into trouble."

Catherine laughed then stepped into the locker room to change her coat. "So, what are we thinking with Mrs Adler?" She queried, kicking off the work boots she was wearing so she could dumpster dive at the Adler's house.

"I don't know, poison maybe? O'Riley looked into Mrs Adler; she had two priors for spousal abuse." He pointed out to her as he removed his vest and hung it back on the coat hanger in his locker. "Seems like a pretty straight up case to me. Nice easy one... for once."

"Yeah." Catherine agreed, untying the ponytail her hair was up in. "Hey have you seen Sara today?"

"Nope, been with you the whole shift."

* * *

Sitting at the table in the break room with a brown paper bag in front of her, Sara sighed heavily as she pulled out her usual cheese and tomato sandwich. Taking her first bite, she quickly rushed to dab her chin as the juice from her tomato dribbled down her. "Hi Sara," Greg waved as he came into the room, heading straight over to the couch where his little angel was still fast asleep. "You stopping for an early lunch?"

"Yeah, I didn't get any dinner." Glancing towards Grissom as he wandered off through the hall with some files in his hands, Sara gave out a soft sigh then looked towards Greg tending to his sleeping child. "You don't have a babysitter for tonight?" She queried.

"Yeah, she's just late... really late." Greg smiled round at her, tucking the blanket back around the slumbering little girl. "My mom was over in California for the weekend, she was on her way back here when her car broke down. Thankfully Grissom agreed to let her stay here for a couple of hours until she gets here though."

Sara smiled as baby Danielle softly sucked the dummy in her mouth, peacefully snoozing. "It must be really nice to have a child." She voiced her thoughts, giving Greg a slight smile as he looked towards her. "Sorry, just your life seems so much more together than mine."

"None of mine was planned, it just happened." Greg smiled as he gently brushed his fingertips across his daughter's forehead, smoothing aside her short fringe of dark hair. "But I'm really glad it did though. I can't believe she's nearly two and a half years old already, it seemed to have whizzed by."

"I know." Sara smirked softly, resting on her elbow as she watched Greg fawning over his daughter. "You and Nick are so lucky Greg." The stand in sister gave her little brother a wink then looked towards the door as she saw Greg's mother appearing in the doorway. "Oh... hey, Mrs Sanders."

"How many times have I told you to call me Jean?" She chortled at the butch girl her son used to have a crush on. "Honestly Sara, we're practically family now. There's no need to be so formal all the time." Jean Sanders smiled as she head straight over to hug her son. "You let her sleep on the sofa?" She immediately noticed the baby snoozing against the cushions.

"She's fine. I've been checking on her every few minutes. Thankfully she inherited Nick's sleeping habits instead of mine so she doesn't roll." Greg assured her, pecking a kiss to his mother's cheek as he stepped back from the hug. "Thanks for doing this Mom; I'll be round to pick her up in the morning." Kneeling down beside the sofa, Greg pressed a loving kiss to his little girls head then climbed to his feet, heading back down the hall towards his lab to get back to work.

Collecting up her granddaughter's things, Jean lifted the sleeping tot into her arms, gently resting her against her shoulder as she carried her off out of the crime lab towards her car in the parking lot where her husband was waiting for her. Daniel Sanders climbed out of the car as he saw his wife approaching, lifting his granddaughter from her arms while Jean loaded her things in the trunk.

Back in the lab, Sara took another bite from her sandwich to finish off her lunch and satisfy her rumbling stomach. Glancing up as she spotted her significant other Grissom walking off through the hall with his nose in a file, Sara gave out a soft sigh as she admired the look of deep thought written across his expression. Resting her elbows against the table, Sara watched as he suddenly stopped, flipping through the papers in his hands before he continued to walk on.

Sara climbed to her feet, leaving her sandwich on the table while she tried to flag him down to talk to him, but he stepped into Greg's lab to talk to him about some evidence, so she had to wait outside.

Grissom collected his results from Greg then readjusted the glasses pressed against his nose as he read through them. He thanked Greg then walked off towards the door where Sara started to follow him once again, hoping to catch him this time.

But yet again he stepped into AV lab to see Archie about a video tape, leaving her to wait outside again.

Sighing heavily, Sara folded her arms across her chest, about to give up on her pursuit when he walked out of the lab, marking a clipboard in his hands as he continued on through the hallway, being stopped by Nick before he reached his office.

"Hey eh... Griss, can I talk to you about some time off?" The Texan queried.

"Sure Nick, just lemme know the days later. I'll talk to you about it when I'm not so busy." Grissom assured him then looked at the kit in Nick's hands. "You heading out?"

"Yeah, I just got a warrant from the DA. I'm waitin' for Brass to check out the boyfriend's background then I'm goin'."

"Okay Nicky, keep me posted." Grissom watched Nick walking back off down the hallway before he turned and continued on his journey towards his office with Sara just a few steps behind him.

"Mr Grissom," Judy from the reception desk stopped him before he reached his door, handing over a small stack of cards to him. "There's your phone messages."

"Thank you, Judy." Grissom gratefully smiled, taking another step closer towards his office where Detective Vartann cut him off. "Lou, you got the police reports I asked you for?" He queried as he stepped up to him.

"Yeah... eh... do you have a sec?"

"Sure." Grissom ushered him into his office, closing the door behind him so they could talk in private. Sara gave out a sigh of disappointment as she missed her chance to talk to him then turned to head back down the hallway towards the break room to finish her sandwich.

On her route back towards the break room, Sara heard the sound of glass breaking. Before she had time to look round, the explosion from the DNA lab beside her mushroomed out into the hall, throwing Sara off her feet as her ears started to ring from the extreme sounds of the blast that just destroyed half the lab.

From her position on the ground, Sara could see fires, broken glass and blood.

Glancing up across the hall, Sara watched a conscious Greg lifting his head off the blood ground slightly before he dropped it back to the glass. "Oh G-od... no." Her breath caught in her throat as she saw his pale blue lab coat was covered in blood. She tried to move to get to him, but her head felt heavy from the blow it took and her eyelids were starting to feel heavy on her eyes.

Before she knew it her head dropped to the tarnished lab floor while the rest of the lab crew were running from the chaos in fear for the nearest exit.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**And there it is, the first chapter for the sequel of 'Baby Makes Three'. I don't know when I'll next update as I'm busy with work and my other stories **_(Something Missing will be updated before the weekend, just as soon as I'm done reading through it and tweaking it a little)_**, but I couldn't wait any longer after getting so many requests from you desperate people about a sequel :D**

**I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and thanks so much to Alisa for beta-ing it for me :D**

**Thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought.**

**Have a Great Weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	2. Chapter 2: Never Got To

**Thanks so much to Alisa for beta-ing.**

**And Thanks so much to all of those that reviewed the first chapter!**

**Chapter Two: Never Got To**

Pulling his truck up the curb of the crime lab, Nick looked out the passenger side window wide eyed as he saw all of the commotion going on in the parking lot. The surrounding area was sealed off by the familiar bright yellow crime scene tape, but it was odd to see it at their own lab. Some officers were guarding the area, keeping onlookers back while others were helping blood and soot coated victims from the building.

As Nick spotted Jacqui Franco holding a blood covered bandage to her head, he immediately started to worry as she was right across the hall from Greg's lab. An EMT immediately tended to her injuries as he climbed out of the second ambulance, shinning a flash light in her eyes to check for signs of a concussion.

Nick jumped out of his truck, charging for the yellow tape where he was stopped by two officers. He was about to punch them to push them aside but he decided to flash his ID to keep the carnage inside the building instead of spreading some out here and risking the lives of the people still inside.

"Jacqui! Jacqui!" Nick shouted as he rushed towards her. "Where's Greg?" He didn't need to ask her again as the look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. Nick went to charge for the door of the building next, but two of fire fighters caught him in time, holding him back. "No! Lemme go, I have to go in there!" He protested, struggling against them.

"Sir, you can't you in there. We're still putting out fires on the third level and the ground could be unstable." One of them informed him as they struggled to hold the desperate man back.

"Let go of me! I have to get in there!" Nick insisted, fighting against the two men but they appeared to be stronger as they managed to drag him further away from the door to calm him down. "You don't understand. He's still in there. I have to help him!"

"We're helping all the survivors we can sir. If your friend is in there we'll find him." The second fire fighter assured him, signalling over to one of the officers as he continued to struggle against their hold over him.

"Stokes, stop it." The officer shouted towards him as he came to assist the two men. "You have to pull it together! Nick, stop!" He continued to shout, but Nick continued to fight, desperate to get inside to help Greg. As he started using his fists to get them out of the way, the officer saw no other choice but to restrain him as they would when a suspect got violent.

"No! Let go! I have to help him." Nick furiously shouted as the young officer tried to hold his arms steady behind his back to slap the cuffs over his wrists. "I have to protect him! Let go of me!" Nick tugged against his restraints then looked up just in time to see a gurney being lifted down the steps with a body strapped to it. He couldn't see their face as they were lying on their side facing the other way, but as the EMT in front moved out the way he saw those familiar bleached spikes of his lover's hair. His eyes soon travelled across the deep blood gashes across his back, including the severe burn marks to half of his body.

"Greg, no." Nick pulled against the officer behind him, watching with tears in his eyes as the EMT's lifted the gurney into the back of the ambulance. He spotted Grissom as the ambulance slowly began to drive away, looking at the stunned expression on his supervisors face as he saw his CSI in handcuffs.

"What is the meaning of this?" Grissom demanded as he head over to them.

"He was gonna run in there." The officer defended himself, still holding the emotional Texan back as he continued to struggle. "It was the only thing I could do to stop him."

"Uncuff him." Grissom stepped up beside them, watching as the officer cautiously uncuffed Nick. "C'mon Nicky, I'll drive you." Grissom watched as Nick rubbed the sore skin on his wrists before he slowly turned away from the flashing lights to follow Grissom off towards his car so he could meet Greg at the hospital.

* * *

After several failed attempts at trying to call out to her grandparents, baby Danielle plopped herself back down onto her blankets beneath her, staring at the vacant space in the doorway through the bars of her crib as her tears started to sting her cheeks. She didn't know what was wrong with them, usually whenever she called out to them or cried as loudly as she was they'd be at the door in no time at all to give her some attention, but they didn't seem to be listening to her today.

Her Nana Jean Sanders was preoccupied in the kitchen with her cooking while her husband was sat in his office on the phone to his boss, discussing the work load they had yet to go through. Once he finally ended the call, Daniel hurried off up the stairs, immediately hearing Danielle crying out to him as she heard movement from the other side of the door.

"I'm coming, honey." Daniel hurried down the hall towards her bedroom door, filling the vacant gap as he entered the room, finding Danielle stood up against the side of her crib, clutching the white bars tightly in her little hands as she cried out through the tears on her red face. "Shh, shh, I'm coming, honey. I'm sorry." He soothed her as he gently lifted her into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as he collected up her blanket and dummy, taking her downstairs with him. "Were you lonely, honey?" He whispered to her as he carried her through to the kitchen towards his wife. "Honey, you didn't hear the baby crying?"

Jean looked round at him surprised then shook her head. "Oh... eh... no, I-I was listening out for the telephone." She stammered as she turned completely to face him. "Sorry, was she crying long?"

Daniel gave her a shrug as he watched his wife anxiously fidgeting around the kitchen. "What's wrong?" He queried, seeing the unfamiliar look in her eyes. "Is Greg okay?" He naturally assumed it was something bad as she was such a smiley person.

"I don't know." She sighed heavily as she leant back against the counter, running her fingers through her messy ponytail of hair. "There was an explosion at the lab; it was just on the news." She pointed towards the television that was now on mute. "I can't get through to Greg or Nicky. The reporter said she can't release the names of those who were injured, not even after I called and told her that my son worked there."

"If there was something wrong, we'd know." He spoke softly to her as he took a few steps closer towards her, gently bouncing his whimpering granddaughter on his hip as he approached his wife.

Jean looked her husband in the eye, giving out a soft sigh as she caught sight of her granddaughters tear streaks. "Danielle started crying as soon as it came on. I knew something was wrong then." She admitted as she wiped away a tear threatening to spill from her cheek. "He knows how much I worry, why wouldn't he call me?"

Daniel was about to say something to comfort her when the phone suddenly started to ring in the distance.

Jean's heart pounded heavily inside of her chest as she hesitantly reached out for the phone on the wall. Clearing her throat as she picked it up, Jean inhaled a deep breath as she slowly raised the phone to her ear. "Hello?" Her voice croaked, fearing the news from the person on the other line.

* * *

After waiting for what seemed like hours in the waiting room, Nick gave out a sigh of desperation as he looked towards the clock again. The second he spotted one of the doctors that were treating Greg coming out of the hall leading towards the surgery room that he wasn't allowed to go into, Nick jumped to his feet, startling Sara who was sat beside him as she was picking at the itchy bandage around the injury to her hand. "How is he?" Nick demanded to know before the doctor could even try to break any news to him gently.

"Um..." The doctor looked into Nick's eyes then towards the woman behind him as she took a few steps closer towards them. "Well... Mr Stokes, we've managed to stabilise him. We've got him on an IV drip to replace the fluids he lost from the burns. His lungs aren't damaged... which is a good thing and they're working fine from the blast. We've got him on antibiotics to stop infection as well as some pain killers so he won't be able to feel anything for a while, and he'll be a little groggy for a few..."

"What about his injuries, how severe are they?" Nick cut him off there, wanting to know the pain his lover was in. "And I want details, I'm a CSI so I know what you're talkin' about, don't dumb it down." He warned him.

"Well... we removed all of the burnt skin. The burns have been covered in antibiotic cream then with sterile bandages. As the burnt skin starts to heal it develops a thick scabbed surface which we'll have to remove using a procedure called Escharotomy because it limits the blood flow to the injured area." The doctor explained, looking between the two of them a moment before he continued, "That's only for the skin on the back of his neck though. The skin to his back had to be all removed as it was so severe. For his back we've used skin grafts to cover the affected area..."

"Is he going to be alright?" Sara queried in a quiet voice, concerned about her baby brother.

"It's going to take weeks, sometimes even months in these cases for the skin to properly heal. Patients with burns of this extent usually have to undergo many surgeries for skin grafts. That and some physical therapy . . . it's going to take time, but I think he has a definite chance of survival." He assured the both of them. "Um... Mr Stokes, can I talk to you alone a moment?"

Sara looked between them surprised then gave them a slight nod as she reluctantly head back to her seat, grabbing her cell phone from her jacket on the chair so she could call her boss to tell him what was going on.

Nick followed the doctor to a more private location of the hallway, looking at him curiously as he tried to think of a way to say it. "Mr Stokes... did you know that... Greg, was pregnant?" He nervously asked him.

"Y-yeah." Nick suddenly remembered, widening his eyes as he had completely forgotten about that. "Shit, I completely forgot." He slapped himself in the head. "H-he's nine weeks. We just found out a week ago. Is the baby okay?" He started to worry as he realised the term the doctor had used to ask him.

Shaking his head slightly, the doctor pursed his lips as he looked into Nick's eyes. "I'm sorry Mr Stokes... he's had a miscarriage. Greg told us when he was first brought in about the baby. Unfortunately, the blast caused the placenta to erupt and detach from the baby. Greg was haemorrhaging badly and the baby..."

"Stop." Nick cut him off, feeling his heart aching inside of his chest as he had already lost one member of his family that he would never get to meet. "Can I see him?"

"He's sleeping Mr Stokes."

"Please, I just need to see him." He begged, looking the doctor in the eye. "Please, he's my life."

The doctor gave in; giving Nick a nod then slowly led the man off towards Greg's recovery room, telling the nurses to allow him in to see him. Standing watch at the door, the doctor watched as Nick cautiously reached out for the door knob, inhaling a deep breath before he head off into the room, looking at his vulnerable lover lying on his side that was only _just_ bouncing around his lab with a lovable grin plastered across his face just a few hours ago.

Nick slowly made his way over to his side, looking at his sleeping face before he gently touched his lips to his hairline, noticing the bandages round the back of his neck. He glanced at the others on his back then pulled up a seat beside his bed, gently lifting his delicate hand from the bed to hold between his own so he knew he was there.

Nick wished he could trade places with Greg so that he could take the pain for him and their baby would still be alive. He felt guilty because he was supposed to protect them both, but instead he had let them down and he still had to tell his two and a half year old daughter that her daddy wouldn't be coming home for a while because he was blown up at the lab that they thought was the only safe place while out on the job.

They were wrong.

* * *

Sitting with his granddaughter in the family room, Daniel Sanders watched his anxious wife pacing up and down in the next room with the phone firmly pressed to her ear with concern. Usually when she was on the phone she had a much wider smile on her face, jabbering a mile a minute, but right now she was really quiet and pacing the kitchen floor into a trench as she nervously bit her fingernails.

Baby Danielle pushed a block into his hands to get his attention, looking up into her grandfather's eyes with her big brown eyes as she too was wondering what was wrong. Daniel gave her a soft smile then lifted her up into his arms as he climbed to his feet, heading back off into the kitchen to see what was wrong with his wife.

Jean silenced him before he could speak with her index finger, holding the phone against her ear again as she listened to whoever was on the other end. "Okay sweetheart . . . I'll be right there. Don't worry about anything, Danielle's safe with us. We weren't there when it..." Jean's voice broke as she struggled to say the words out loud. "Okay honey," Sniffling softly, Jean wiped the tear drops in her eyes, nodding into her phone even though he couldn't see her. "I'll be right there honey, don't you worry." Slowly Jean lowered the phone to the counter in front of her, hanging up as she wiped the tears spilling down her cheeks again.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Daniel immediately asked, holding his silent granddaughter against his side with one arm as he reached out for her. "Who was that on the phone?"

"It was... it was Nick." Sniffing hard, Jean's breath stuttered from her throat as she looked up into her husband's eyes. "Can you put her down a minute? I have to... I have to..." Looking around the kitchen, Jean tried to think of something that she could do to make things better.

Daniel carried his grandchild back across the hall, setting her down in the play pen behind the sofa. The child gave out a soft whimper as she didn't want to go in there again, but he ignored her pleas as he carefully clicked the door shut then head back across the hall towards his wife, watching her searching through the fridge for something.

"Honey, what happened? What did Nick say?" The longer his wife was quiet, the more worried Daniel got. "Jean, talk to me. What's happened?" Seizing hold of her wrist as her shaky hands reached for her purse on the counter opposite the fridge, Daniel forced his wife to face him, looking her in the eye. "What happened Jean? Is it Greg?" Daniel didn't realise it at the time, but tears were rolling down his own cheeks as his lower lip started to quiver. "What's happened?" He demanded to know again.

Jean raised both her hands to her cheeks, inhaling a deep breath before she removed her hands from her face, looking up into her husband's eyes. "The accident at t-the lab. Greg was... he was right in the middle of it." She explained, looking at her husband's heart breaking tears through her own. "His vitals are stable. He's got full thickness burns on his back and neck. He's been taken to the hospital and he's just out of... surgery." Her voice croaked as she struggled to speak. "Nicky's sitting with him now."

"Is h-he okay?" Daniel stammered, feeling his heart slowing inside of his chest.

"Nicky doesn't know. He's already been through the first three stages to the surgery. There was the debridement to clean away the dead tissue then something called an Escharotomy or something; I can't remember what he said that involved and then the skin grafting." She explained. "He's sleeping, but he... he lost the baby." She sobbed softly into her hand, trying to hold back her emotions as she still had to drive over there to be there to support her son and his fiancé.

"Wait, I'm coming with you." He insisted as Jean lifted her purse, heading off towards the door.

"You can't." She indicated towards Danielle in the other room who was now stood against the bars of the door, crying through her dummy as she tugged on the door. "Don't let her know, yet. We can't take her to the hospital with us; it's not fair on her."

"Wait, Jean... you have to call me as soon as you know anything." He warned her, wiping his eyes on his sleeve as he took a few steps closer towards her. "As soon as you know _anything_."

"I promise." Cupping her husband's chin in one hand, Jean pressed their lips together, giving him a slight smile as she pulled back. Daniel watched her leaving the house then slowly took a few steps towards the front room where his granddaughter was still crying out for attention.

Daniel bit back the tears in his eyes as he took a few steps closer towards her, lifting her free from the play pen into his arms. "It's okay baby." He whispered, cradling the little girl against his chest. "Daddy's gonna be here soon."

* * *

"I'm pretty tired." A groggy Greg complained as the CSI's in his room continued to ask him questions about what had happened.

"This won't take long Greg, we promise." Catherine spoke softly then cast an eye towards the door where she could see Nick on his phone, making her feel guilty for having to throw him out so they could interview their witness that was right in the middle of the explosion. "We just have a few more questions Greg, you wonna find out who did this, right?" Catherine watched the younger man's eyes slowly travelling down to the floor beneath them, assuming the answer was yes as who wouldn't want to find out who tried to blow up the lab.

"Greggo, why doncha tell us exactly what happened, as best as you can remember it." Warrick spoke softly, holding his pen to the notepad in front of him to get ready to write what the young DNA tech could remember.

"Um... I think I was... I was working three cases... mixing solvents."

"Did you notice anything prior to the explosion?" Catherine queried. "A power surge, a spark... maybe even a smell?" She suggested from prior knowledge of dealing with explosions on previous cases.

When Greg shook his head slightly, Warrick softened his tone as he asked, "We could really use your help here Greg. Anything you can remember would really help us. Try to think; even the slightest little detail could help."

Greg slowly opened his eyes as he tried to think. "Plastic." He suddenly blurted. "It smelt... like burning plastic."

"That's good Greg." Catherine smiled to him then looked towards Warrick to continue asking the questions.

"Greg, do you remember where it came from or where you were standing when you smelt the plastic?"

Greg let out a soft breath as he closed his eyes. "I... I don't know. I turned around to see... but I couldn't see where the smell was coming from." After a slight sigh, Greg shook his head, "I'm sorry... I don't remember after that."

"It's okay." Warrick spoke softly, giving the younger man a slight smile as he looked up at him. "Thanks for your help Greggo."

"Are we done?"

"Yeah." Catherine nodded to him then looked over at Nick by the door before she turned back to him. "Yeah, we're done Greggy. Feel better, alright?"

"Yeah, get some rest. We'll see you later." Warrick closed up the notebook in his hands then head off towards the door, closing it once Catherine was out.

"That it, you got what you need?" Nick asked them both, anxious to get back in there to see Greg.

"Sorta." Warrick shrugged as he looked back at his notebook. "It's not much to go on, he can't really remember anything."

"He was thrown through a wall. I'd like to see you try and remember somethin' after you were thrown through a wall." Nick defended him, his tone sounded like one of anger even though he knew that they were only trying to do their jobs and they would do the same to any other victim.

"We're done with him now." Catherine nodded to him. "If he remembers anything else..."

"Yeah, I know." He dismissed her. "Thanks Cath." Nick gave her a half smile then stepped around Warrick to get back to Greg's door. He quietly clicked the door shut behind him then made his way over to the side of Greg's bed, once again pulling the chair up beside it so he could resume holding his hand like he had been before Catherine and Warrick arrived to talk to him.

Greg gratefully took his hand as he dozed off back to sleep, glad that the room was now quiet so he could just go back to sleep. He was thankful that Nick wasn't constantly asking him questions either as he wasn't quite ready to talk to him yet, holding his hand was comfort enough.

* * *

While Nick stayed at the hospital with Greg, Sara headed back to the lab to finish their case with Grissom, while Catherine and Warrick got to work on the carnage at the lab to try and figure out who blew up the DNA lab.

They started in the middle of Greg's lab; collecting up anything they could salvage while they marked and photographed anything of interest. After nearly two hours of work, they sent their evidence off to the temporary labs stationed in different rooms to get their evidence processed.

Most offices would close down after there was an explosion, but this office didn't have that luxury, they had to continue working around the problem.

"We understand that you handled a meth lab yesterday." Catherine spoke up as she entered David Hodges' temporary lab to begin questioning him as their first suspect.

"Contaminated filter papers." The grumpy trace technician corrected her as he continued working. "So what, it's my job isn't it?" He asked her, gulping hard as the taller CSI came into the room behind her.

"So, you had to do a solvent extraction, right? What did you use?" Warrick inquired, giving the nervous tech a curious look as he waited for his answer.

"Chloroform, methanol and acetone... but I cleaned the pan once I was done." He assured them both. "None of that could have caused the... you know. I know I cleaned the pan."

"Same way you turned off the hot plate?" Warrick asked.

Hodges gave out a heavy sigh. "If it was on, it wasn't my fault. That thing gets turned on by accident all the time." He defended himself. "I'm very clean. I cleaned and turned off everything that I used. I don't know who could have done it, but the hot plate gets turned on accidentally all the time. No one could have known."

"Mysterious dude defence." Warrick muttered under his breath as he looked towards Catherine.

"What makes me a suspect anyway?" Hodges asked them as they continued to stare at him as if he was the guilty one.

"You're always showing your dislike of Greg." Warrick pointed out to him. "We always look at enemies first."

"Who doesn't? And even if I did want to kill Greg... don't you think I'd do it much quieter?" He suggested. "A whole lab explosion that didn't kill him, really isn't my style."

"That a confession?" Catherine queried.

Hodges gave out a frustrated sigh as he looked between the two of them. "I know what this is. You guys hear the lies and rumours about me from the lab in LA. You know how much Grissom depends on me too, so you figure, let's get rid of him. Pin it on the new guy." He presumed, giving them both an angry look. "I'll lawyer up before I let you pin the tail on the new donkey."

Warrick gave out a soft smirk. "Better start dialling."

Slowly, the two CSI's turned and walked out of Hodges temporary lab to chase up on other leads so they could find out exactly what happened. They already had Hodges pinned as the 'Genius' who left the hot plate on, now they just had to find out what kind of combustible liquid was used that ignited under the fume hood, causing the explosion.

* * *

"I hope the days come easy. And the moments pass slow. And each road leads you where you want to go." The Texan's voice softly rasped as he continued to sing to his sleepy lover beside him. "And you're faced with a choice. And you have to choose. I hope you choose the one that means the most to you. And if one door opens to another door closed. I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window. If it's cold outside... show the world the warmth of your smile."

As he sung that line, a slight smile spread across Greg's lips as he looked up into his partner's eyes. "That can't be cowboy music."

"It is." Nick assured him. "Why can't it be cowboy music?"

Greg's smile slightly increased as he weaved his fingers together with Nick's. "Because I actually like it." He admitted.

"Good." Nick pulled his chair closer and gently started to stroke his fingers through Greg's hair as he continued the next part of the song in his soft raspy voice that Greg adored. "But more than anythin' . . . more than anythin'. My wish, for you... is that this life... becomes all that you want it to. Your dreams stay big. Your worries stay small. You never need to carry more than you can hold. And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to. I hope you know somebody loves yooouuu! And wants the same things too. Yeah this . . . is my wish."

Greg gave out a soft giggle as Nick leant forwards to touch his lips to his forehead. "So that's your big secret on how you can get Danny to sleep quicker than me? You sing to her."

"Yeah." Nick nodded to him as his fingers continued to mindlessly brush through his lovers soft hair. "She's off to sleep within a few verses. She even likes a few Elvis songs too."

Greg beamed his best attempt at a smile up at him then closed his eyes as he clutched Nick's other hand tightly in his own. "I'm sorry that you never got to..."

"Greg, don't." Nick interrupted him, shaking his head to him as Greg reopened his eyes. "It's not your fault baby, these things happen. We can easily have another baby. It's not the end of the world, hun." Nick assured him then turned his head towards the door as he spotted Jean holding up a coffee to him. He shook his head to her then saw that she was pointing to Catherine behind her. He rolled his eyes at the two of them then turned back to Greg in front of him. "I gotta go for a sec baby, I'll be right outside." He whispered.

"Okay." Greg spoke softly as he released his grip on his hand. "Don't go for too long."

"I won't." Nick assured him, gently touching his lips to his temple before he slowly climbed to his feet and head off towards the door, closing it behind him. "What?" He immediately snipped at Catherine.

"I wanted to talk to Greg." She spoke softly as she defensively folded her arms across her chest. "We figured out what caused the lab explosion."

"What?" Nick asked, anxious to know himself.

"Nicky, sweetheart," Jean looked up into his eyes as he looked towards her. "Let her explain it to Greg first." She insisted.

Nick gave out a heavy sigh then reluctantly stepped aside, allowing Catherine to step past him towards Greg's door. He watched her go in then took the extra coffee from Jean's hands as he took a seat on one of the chairs in the hall. "Did she tell you?" Nick asked her as he looked up at Greg's mother.

Jean gave him a slight nod as she sunk into the chair beside him. "Yeah, she told me honey." Staring down into her coffee, Jean softly bit her lower lip to stop the tears from pooling down her cheeks. "Is Greg doing okay?" She queried.

"As good as anyone would be in this situation." Nick nodded to her as he circled both of his hands around the warm coffee cup in his hands. "He's a lot stronger than people give him credit for you know."

"Oh... I know." She smiled softly. "He was always a very strong willed child, impossible to ground."

Nick smiled in her direction then ran a hand through his hair, feeling the exhaustion of the shift beginning to creep up on him. "Did you call Daniel yet?" He queried.

"Yeah, he said Danielle's sleeping now. We can keep her at the house until you're ready." She suggested as she looked round at him. "As long as you need. Greg's not gonna be able to leave here for a few days anyway, so I assume you'll want to stay with him."

"Yeah, thanks Jean." Nick gave her a slight smile then set down the coffee on the small table beside him as he dropped his head into his hands, thinking about the child they had lost. He couldn't let his emotions take over him in Greg's room because he was supposed to be strong for Greg, but out in the hallway he couldn't help but let them out.

Jean turned her head, her motherly instincts immediately kicked in as she saw his chest hitching from his crying. Jean rushed to hug him, gathering the man her son was in love with in her arms as she attempted to sooth him from his tears.

Jean didn't know what to say and she feared that if she started to speak she wouldn't be able to stop making the situation worse, so she just continued to sooth him, being there for him until Catherine finally emerged from the room once she was done talking to Greg.

Catherine gave Mrs Sanders another apologetic look before she slowly made her way off down the hall of the hospital, heading straight home after she had been suspended from work for what happened at the lab.

Jean handed Nick a fresh handkerchief from her purse so that he could clean himself up before he headed back into Greg's room to comfort and support him. He knew it wasn't the end of the world because he still had the man he loved and their beautiful child with him. He counted himself lucky for them, but he did have a huge hole in his heart from the moment he found out that he wouldn't be meeting his second child.

Nick carefully lowered himself into the seat beside Greg's bed, gently trailing his fingertips across his forehead to make him look up at him. "Did she tell you what happened?" Nick spoke softly as he moved the chair closer towards the bed.

"Yeah . . . she did." The younger man slowly reached out for Nick's other hand with his own, tightly weaving their fingers together for comfort as he began to explain what had happened to him, the same way Catherine had explained it to him.

* * *

**That's the end of chapter two. I've based the first few chapters around well known episodes so it's easier to picture the characters. I hope you enjoyed that chapter, as much as anyone can enjoy pain and cruelty to characters lol :D The song that Nick sung is 'My Wish by Rascal Flatts' if you've never heard it before, it's definitely worth checking out. I don't usually like sappy love songs, but for Rascal Flatts I make the exception. :D Especially if I try and picture Nick singing them!**

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter! I'm so glad that you all enjoyed it and are excited to find out where I take this story. Thanks again to Alisa for beta-ing. I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the 1st!**

**Thanks for reading, Please Review!**

**~ Holly**


	3. Chapter 3: Welcome to My World

**Thanks so much for your reviews! And thank you to Alisa my beta for helping me with this chapter. I hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Welcome to my World**

Relaxing back in the bathtub that was almost lukewarm as he had been sitting in it for so long now, Greg stared up at the blank ceiling above him as he touched his hands to his stomach, thinking about the baby he had lost just four short months ago. He realised that if he had never lost the baby he was carrying, he would be around six months pregnant by now, preparing for their arrival into their lives, just as they had prepared for Danielle's arrival while she was still inside of him.

He couldn't believe that there was ever a time in his life that he didn't want a baby. He couldn't imagine his life without his daughter Danielle and he desperately wanted another child to make up for the one he had lost.

For the last four months he hadn't felt like himself though. Most of it was probably due to the fact his body had been disfigured, constantly probed and examined for weeks on end since the lab explosion, and he was missing the baby that was meant to be growing inside of him, getting ready to face the world.

Instead he felt empty and depressed, as if the explosion had blown a massive void in his existence and he couldn't find his way back to what was right.

"Baby, you've been in here for three hours." His soon to be husband announced as he made his way into the room. The original wedding date had to be postponed due to Greg being in physical therapy and they had yet to set a new date after almost three years of being together, and engaged. "You're gettin' wrinkly." Nick pointed out to him as he took a seat on the edge of the bathtub, looking down into the deep black holes that used to be Greg's deep soulful eyes. "You're gonna catch a cold if you stay in here any longer, hun. Do you wonna get sick again lookin' like a wrinkly raisin?" Nick continued to probe for that familiar Greg smile he had been missing so much lately.

"Nicky please..." Greg moaned then turned his head to look up at him before he opened his mouth to speak again, "Can you just leave me alone... just for a minute?" He requested, still guarding himself just as he had been since the day he got out of the hospital.

"Sure." Nick leant across the bathtub and gently touched his lips to Greg's damp temple. He gave him a soft smile before he climbed to his feet, slowly heading off towards the bathroom door again.

"Nick." The younger man suddenly called out to him before he left the room. Nick immediately turned round to face him, seeing that familiar look on Greg's face that he had been seeing a lot of lately. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but he couldn't piece together the words in his mouth so he just responded with, "Never mind," and turned his head away so he wouldn't have to look Nick in the eye.

Nick nodded to him then slowly head off out the room again, carefully clicking the door shut behind him. He waited a moment in case Greg called out to him again, before he made his way off towards the front room where Danielle was still sat down at the coffee table, moving around the little jigsaw puzzle pieces with her little pincher fingertips.

This particular puzzle was of farm animals. It was only twenty pieces and quite easy to master, but Danielle liked to take her time. She mumbled a few incoherent words that she had recently learned, as she pushed the pieces around the coffee table to fit together. She didn't put things in her mouth as much as she used to, so Nick didn't really have to worry about the puzzle pieces being a choking hazard either.

As Nick took a seat on the sofa behind her, Danielle held up one of the pieces to him, making a soft whimpering sound as she didn't know where it went. "Look here honey, there's part of the tigers tail . . . and there's the rhinos foot." He pointed out to her. Danielle gave the piece of puzzle in her hands a quizzical look until she found the other half of the tiger on the table. "That's it, baby." Her father smiled proudly.

Danielle gave out a soft giggle as the pieces fit perfectly together. Nick leant over her and gently pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she continued to piece together the picture. Her dark brown hair had now grown out slightly wavy to reach just above her shoulders which they preferred to style in cute little pigtails either side of her head as it was the easiest thing they could do and made her look even more adorable then she already was.

"Dada." Danielle suddenly shouted.

Nick glanced up in the direction she was looking, spotting Greg coming out of the bedroom dressed in red tartan pyjama trousers and a plain white t-shirt. He made his way off into the front room and lifted Danielle into his arms as she gave the up signal, wanting to be lifted into his arms. Greg held her tightly in his arms for a moment then stepped around the coffee table to sit down beside Nick on the sofa.

Nick gladly welcomed him into his embrace, hugging the two of them tightly against his chest. "You okay baby?" He whispered to Greg, grazing his warm lips across his ear. Greg gave him a slight nod as he rested his head against his shoulder. "Can I get you anythin', hun?"

"No... I just want things to go back to normal."

Closing his eyes against Nick, Greg breathed in his deep scents while Nick gently smoothed his palms up and down his now almost completely healed back. Danielle wrapped her little fingers around his thumb, running her curious little index finger from the other hand across the wrinkled ridges of her father's fingertips.

"Speaking of, I wonna go back to work." He finally spoke up.

"Are you sure you're ready? You only _just_ finished your physical therapy." Nick pointed out to him as he pressed his lips to his forehead. "I don't want you to overdo it, baby."

"I won't. I just wonna get things back to normal, with you and me too." Closing his eyes against Nick again, Greg held his family tightly, relaxing in his strong lover's arms. "We lost a baby Nicky. I don't want things between us to drift. We should be able to work through this."

"We can baby." He assured him. "We can have another baby, if you want that is."

"Yeah." Greg nodded slightly then looked up into Nick's eyes. Danielle garbled some baby babble as Greg turned her to sit against his chest, making Greg chuckle softly as she was so adorable. "You do want another baby, right?" He asked his partner. "I don't wonna push you into anything."

Nick smiled to him then turned his attention towards Danielle on Greg's lap. "I definitely want another baby with you Greg." Nick wrapped his arms round the two people he loved most in the world, clutching them tightly in his warm loving embrace. "So, about this gettin' our life back on track thing, you know our flight to Texas is at the end of the week, right? You still wonna cancel?" He asked as he looked down at Greg in his arms.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Greg sighed softly as he reclosed his eyes against Nick's chest. "I really don't wonna hang out with... _those_ people. Sure they accept you being with me... sorta anyway, but they really don't like me, Nicky. They think I'm a bad parent."

"No they don't."

"Yeah they do," Greg smiled as he was completely clueless to the way his family treated him. "Whenever your mom's over here she does that annoying self soothing thing with Danielle. Then when I go get her when she's crying, she looks at me like I'm something the dog just walked in with. And your sister is always bragging. Oh Jimmy-Ray's using the potty already, Danielle really can't do that?" He mocked Nick's sister's voice. "I swear, whenever she's over here she's always saying Jimmy-Ray did this, Jimmy-Ray did that. What kinda name is Jimmy-Ray anyway? Danielle's older and so much cuter than that dribble bucket."

Nick chuckled softly then gently touched his lips to the side of Greg's head, whispering, "Welcome to my world Greg."

* * *

Straight after dinner, Nick cleared away the plates they had used into the dishwasher then lifted Danielle into his arms, cleaning off her sticky hands in the sink. Greg cleared away the rest of the things then leant back against the sink counter beside Nick, watching him carefully washing their daughter's hands. "Okay Nicky, I'll go with you to Texas." Greg spoke softly. "It's just for two nights, right? I can stand your mother for that long."

Nick smiled round at him as he lifted Danielle slightly higher in his arms. "Thank you, baby. But you really don't have to do this. I'll just tell Kayla..."

"No, it's fine. Honestly." Greg assured him. Looking up into Nick's eyes, Greg's mouth suddenly spread into a wide smile. "You've tolerated my mother for two whole years, so surely I can tolerate yours for two days." He smirked.

"Thank you, Greg." Nick leant forwards to capture Greg's lips for a quick kiss. "I'll owe you big time, I swear."

"You better." Greg smiled back then looked at Danielle in his arms. "Is it bath time for this little one now?"

"Yeah, you don't want me to do it?" He asked as he had been dealing with the bath time routine for the past couple of months as Greg had found it too painful to bend over from the healing skin tissue on his back.

"I can do it." Greg gently slid his hands under his baby's arms and lifted her out of Nick's embrace into his own. "You're leaving for work in an hour, right?" He suddenly queried before he left the kitchen.

Nick nodded as he started refolding the towels. "Yeah, I'll be back in the mornin' before you get up."

"In that case, you can tuck me in too." Greg winked over at him, before he made his way out of the room and off towards the bathroom to run Danielle's bath. As usual she fussed over the idea of having a bath again, but as soon as she was in the water with her toys she calmed down and started to joyfully babble while she played with the various toys in her bathwater around her.

A wide smile spread across Greg's lips as he watched her, once again relieved that his mother had arrived just in time to take Danielle away from the destruction of the lab as he really couldn't bear losing her or Nicky, they were his world.

* * *

After tucking Danielle into bed in her crib, Nick quietly clicked the door shut then head across the hall to the next room, finding Greg sat cross legged on the bed with some bills and things laid out in front of him. "Baby, we agreed that I was gonna deal with all of this." Nick made his way over to the bed, taking a seat in front of Greg. "You really don't have to do all of this."

"My brain didn't blow out my ears in the explosion," Greg suddenly chuckled, "I told you; I want things to get back to normal. You can't do all this as well as work, take care of the house and shop. I can pretty much do everything I used to be able to do now, so I can shop and clean this place... and sorting bills really isn't that hard." He smirked up at him.

"Sorry, I wasn't implyin' that you were... weak or anythin'. It's just since you got out the hospital it was my job to look after both you and Danielle, and I kinda liked it. I know you're not weak or less of a man than I am. I just... I like takin' care of you."

Greg smiled softly then tilted his head to the side, as he looked into the eyes of his sentimental cowboy. "Well, you still can. But I'm not gonna let you do absolutely _everything_. I'm no slob. Despite what you might think, I always did my fair share of chores back home. I just refused to do my bedroom because that was the way I liked it." He snickered.

"Okay."

"I'm not gonna have anything to do all day tomorrow anyway, so I'll shop while you catch up on your sleep. That way Danielle will already be worn out by the time you're well rested." He explained as he stacked a pile of car payments and bank statements beside each other. "I know you're too proud to accept money from my parents, so it'll have to be us. I'll go back to work at the beginning of next month, and my mother can look after Danielle while we're both out. We really need the money right now anyway, so no arguments." He warned him as he continued to sort the bills into order.

"See, you're the man in this relationship. I think with my heart while you think with your head." Nick chuckled as he lay down on his side opposite Greg. "Are you sure one week is enough time though, G? Grissom put you on paid leave for as long as you need."

"Yeah, I know and I feel bad about not working while I'm being paid." Greg pointed out to him. "I really am okay, Nicky. I don't need you to baby me. I'm ready."

"Okay." Nick reluctantly agreed to his decision. "You're the boss, Greg."

"Outside the bedroom maybe." Collecting up his paper work, Greg stacked it onto the bedside table then lay down on his back on the middle of the bed, pulling Nick's body on top of him. "Inside the bedroom though, you know you're the boss." The younger man giggled softly before he ignited their lips for a kiss.

* * *

Examining their victim Alice Dominguez slumped back in her seat at the table; Grissom examined the injury to their victim a moment then moved his gaze to the blood splatter across the table that had spread to the vase and across the wall. He gazed at it a moment longer until he spotted Catherine coming in through the doorway behind him with her kit in hand, ready to get to work. Catherine examined the blood splatter across the wall too then turned her gaze towards Grissom, giving him a quizzical look.

"Her throat's been slit by what appears to have been a very sharp implement." He pointed out to her before he straightened up and looked around the rest of the room, noting, "The room is completely stripped. No bedding... no sheets."

Catherine checked the bathroom too then nodded in agreement. "There's no towels either. Someone took a few hotel souvenirs with them." She smirked. "I'll check the surveillance tapes." She suggested as she stepped out of the bathroom, leaving Grissom to examine the body in the bedroom. "Hey, she got an ID?" Catherine queried as she snapped some gloves over her hands.

Grissom nodded round at her. "Alice Dominguez." Handing the licence over to her, Grissom noticed the wedding ring on their victim's hand. "Wedding ring. But no husband." Grissom looked around the room a moment then heard a strange buzzing sound coming from across the room. He directed his flashlight towards the bedside table then down towards Catherine's kit set on the floor. "Catherine, I think your cell phones ringing."

Catherine turned back to look at Grissom, giving him a half smile as he had recently just been through surgery to get his hearing corrected. "You can hear that from all the way over there?" She smirked as she went to retrieve her phone.

"Mm-hmm." He nodded as he resumed looking at the victim's wallet in his hands, reading off Alice Dominguez's information. According to the licence she was from Los Angeles, date of birth 1972, making her thirty one years old. He heard Catherine mutter something in the distance, but he couldn't quite hear her. "Huh?" He asked.

Catherine just smiled in response as she raised her phone to her ear, giving her daughter quick homework tips as she was stuck and her grandmother was of no use to her.

"Sorry about that." She apologised as she snapped her phone shut in her hands. "So, what's wrong with this picture?" She queried as she stepped closer towards the body, examining the slit throat wound and the blood spray around it.

"Well, usually when someone gets their throat slit, it's from behind." Grissom furrowed his brows together as he looked at the victims wound. He re-examined the blood splatter then looked up at Catherine with a perplexed look written across his features. "There's no ligature marks. No defensive wounds... I think whoever did it, was sitting in that chair." He pointed to it as he tried to picture the murderer slashing open the throat of their victim.

It was Catherine's turn to be confused this time. She tried to picture it herself then frowned at Grissom. "She sat there and allowed someone to slit her throat? C'mon Gil, no ones that... suicidal."

Grissom nodded in agreement as it was very confusing then groaned softly as he heard his own phone going off. "Grissom." He answered in an annoyed tone.

"_Hey, it's Nick. The room was booked yesterday under a stolen credit card belongin' to a... Mrs Parker."_ The younger CSI reported as he read it from the receipt the manager had printed off for him. "_She's a seventy five year old lady livin' alone in Henderson. There's no security cameras in the hall, only in the elevator."_

"Okay Nicky, what about Mrs Dominquez?" He queried as he looked over at their blood covered victim. "Which room was she registered to, perhaps we can find her husband?"

"_Uh... Mrs Dominguez checked in with her husband... yesterday. Room 896. No sign of the husband though, he's MIA."_

"Okay, thanks Nicky." Grissom snapped his phone shut then looked over at Catherine. "Alice Dominquez is registered to room 896 with her husband." He reported then cocked one of his eyebrows as he looked around the room. "So what's she doing two floors away from that in a room paid for with a stolen credit?" He asked no one in particular as he looked around the room for any more clues.

"Maybe... she met someone? That's why she wasn't with her husband." Catherine voiced her theory then looked towards her phone as it started to ring again. "Damn it, Lindsay." She complained as she snapped it open again. "Hey honey, whatsup?"

* * *

Peeling the print tape off the side of the door, Nick folded it over then looked at it a moment to check the ridge detail before he filled in the evidence log part so he remembered exactly where he found it. Climbing to his feet again, Nick lifted his kit into his hand and stepped out into the stairwell, peering over the railing to see if he could see anything, but it was just a big empty staircase as he had expected.

Grabbing his phone from his belt as it started to ring; Nick looked at the screen, giving it a suspicious look as he saw his mother's name flashing across the screen and she never usually called during working hours. "Hello?" He answered.

"_Hello sweetheart, I'm not callin' you too late am I... or is it too early for you?"_ She chuckled into her cell phone as she continued fixing herself dinner. "_Anyway honey, I was just callin' to confirm your flights. You have booked them already, right? You know the rush around this time of year, and you don't want poor Danielle to be crammed between two strangers as you couldn't get seats together."_

"Mama, I already booked the flights." Nick assured her as he slowly made his way off down the staircase. "I did it a while ago, but I'm kinda at work right now, so I really can't talk." He pointed out to her, hoping his boss wouldn't catch him.

"_Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart."_ She gasped then giggled softly as she set down her meal for one on the table. "_I'm really lookin' forward to spendin' more time with my granddaughter and my youngest son. I've missed you so much since the last time you were here. I've set up one of the guest bedrooms for Danielle and the one directly across the hall for you."_

Opening the outside door once he reached the bottom of the stairs, Nick sighed softly as he continued to listen to his mother ramble about all the things they could do while he was there, conveniently leaving Greg out of everything as if he was nothing.

"_The very first night when you arrive I think I'll make my chilli that you used to love as a child. It'll be nice to have your childhood favourites again, right?"_

"Yeah Mama, thanks. Listen, I really gotta get back to work." Nick insisted. "I'll see you at the end of the week though. I'm bringin' Greg with me, remember." He reminded her in case she forgot then snapped his phone shut and stuffed it back onto the clip on his belt.

Nick inhaled a deep breath of the fresh air outside then spotted the group of valets out the front of the casino in their bright red vests. "Hey guys." He called out to them. "How are you doin'? I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab and I'm..."

"Nick Stokes?" A voice suddenly interrupted him. Nick frowned as he looked towards the valet that was smiling in his direction as he recognised his face. "Hey, whatsup bro?" The man asked as he took a few steps closer towards him. The man chuckled as Nick continued to look at him confused. "It's Kenny. Kenneth Richmond. Rebel baseball. I played backup catcher... I set you up with my cousin Valerie." He tried to refresh his mind. "We went to Highschool together for a year then we played baseball in college."

"Oh." Nick suddenly remembered him then reached his hand out to properly greet him with a handshake. "Wow, Kenny Richmond." He looked at him in disbelief as he had actually matured quite well.

"Yeah."

"Hi, Kenny. What's it been like... fifteen years?"

"Longer." He laughed as he returned Nick's handshake. "So, how you doing, man? I mean look at you, it's good to see you again." He smirked as he saw Nick in a CSI vest and a baseball cap with Forensics printed across it. "Wow, so what are you a cop now?"

"Uh no... Crime Scene Investigator. I'm kinda on a case." Nick felt a little guilty for bragging about his job in front of his old best friend that was now a valet at the Spheres casino.

"Crime scene? Rock on, man. So what have you been doing lately, besides this job that is?"

"Well uh..." Nick anxiously looked down at his feet as no one from his past life knew he was shacking up with another guy. He gave him a nervous smile as he tried to think of something other than Greg to brag to him about. "Oh, well... I uh... oh, I have a daughter." He suddenly remembered.

"No shit, really? Nick Stokes with kids. Wow, that's cool, man."

"What about you, man?" Nick queried, anxiously scratching at his sweaty forehead beneath his cap as he noticed no wedding ring on Kenny's hand either.

"Well eh... not so much. I proposed to Jenny right out of college, but we broke up a few months later." Nick nodded sympathetically as he vaguely remembered Kenny dating Jenny for a while in Highschool. "I've been working here since I got out of rehab, drugs man." He sighed softly then looked up at the building a moment before he looked back at Nick. "So eh... you're here on the tenth floor thingy, right?"

"Right." Nick nodded through a forced smile.

"Yeah, I heard about that, man. Everybody's talkin' about it. Somebody, uh... they bashed some chicks brains in, I think, right?"

"Actually, uh... she had her throat slit and bled out all over the room. I'll know more when I check the surveillance camera." Nick corrected him, not even thinking about the consequences of telling somebody he used to know about the investigation.

"Well, what are you doing here?" He queried.

"Uh... I'm just checkin' possible escape routes. She was murdered in the room closest to the exit. Murder central."

"Murder central, huh?" Kenny grinned then looked his old friend in the eye. "That's cool, bro." Giving Nick a buddy slap on the back, Kenny changed his voice to a whisper as he took a step closer. "Listen man, I heard what happened with you and Val. And I just wanted to say, no hard feelings. I get it man, I really do. We were just kids back then; we couldn't deal with having kids ourselves."

"Valerie told you about that?"

"Yeah." Kenny nodded, giving him a half smile. "But no hard feelings man. Jenny my ex, we were gonna end up having a kid but she did the right thing and took care of it. We all told Valerie to do the same back then, but she never listened. You know she lives here now, right? I think her kid's in Highschool now." Kenny looked round as another car pulled up and he was the only valet that wasn't busy. "Oh, I gotta go. See you around, Nick."

Nick waved after him then gulped hard as he thought about what he had said. He had always assumed that Valerie would have gotten rid of the baby because of her parents, but according to her cousin their child was alive and in Highschool, right here in Vegas.

* * *

Back at the lab the team started to gather in the conference room, just as the news came on. "_New leads in the double homicide at the Sphere Hotel and Casino. According to sources within the crime lab, the killer or killers most likely fled the room CSI's call 'Murder Central,' the nearest room to the emergency exit..."_

Nick gulped hard as he suddenly realised where the news reporter could have got that tiny piece of information from.

"_CSI's are currently checking surveillance footage in an effort to identify the possible suspects of this brutal murder."_

"Oh man, what the hell?" Nick muttered to himself that didn't go unnoticed by his friend Warrick.

"What?" The older man asked.

"Kenny Richmond, that's what." He groaned in an annoyed tone as the reporter continued.

"Who's Kenny Richmond?" Warrick queried as he stirred the hot coffee in his hands.

Nick anxiously ran his fingers through his hair before whispering, "This valet at the Sphere. I went to Highschool with him and we played baseball in college. I bumped into him for like, two seconds."

Warrick looked at his friend wide eyed. "Don't tell me you opened your mouth to that guy, Nicky." He scolded him with a stern look. The same kind his father used to give him when he was in trouble as a child. "Hey man, you could lose your job over something like this."

"Hey man, it's not like I ran my mouth to the press, okay?" The younger man anxiously brushed his fingers through his hair again as he shifted from foot to foot.

"Best thing you could do right now is go to Griss and fess up." He warned him.

"Fess up to what? There were a hundred people at that crime scene." He defended himself, passing the blame onto anyone but him. The exact tactic he used to use on his own father that seemed to work for him about seventy five percent of the time. "Anyone could have gone to that reporter, Warrick."

"Are you going to wait till he comes to you and _then_ lie about it?"

"Lie about what?" A voice suddenly startled them both from the doorway. They both looked round at their supervisor wide eyed as they both simultaneously cleared their throats. Warrick was doing it to try and get Nick to fess up to what he had done, but Nick stubbornly shook his head and sunk down into one of the seats to begin the team meeting.

For the rest of the day Nick tried to avoid Grissom as much as he could. The next crime scene was at the Fez motel parking lot. A body had been stuffed into the ice machine, same cut throat as their last few victims. The mo of the killers had changed, confusing Grissom as he directed his team to their assignments.

"Warrick, help Sara process this." Grissom instructed then looked towards Nick who had a nervous look on his face. "Nicky?" Glancing up, Nick softly bit his lower lip as he thought this was finally going to be the big talk. "Come with me." Grissom finally instructed then walked away. Nick slowly climbed to his feet, noticing the look in Warrick's eyes as he stepped around him and followed Grissom off towards the registered motel room.

Again Nick thought now was the time he was going to be prosecuted for screwing up by his stand in father, but Grissom just wanted his help to process the scene.

"So Nicky, why do you think that our murderers went from the grand casino and hotel to this dump?" Grissom suddenly queried, halfway through processing.

Nick thought that this was the final trick question to catch him out, so he tensely cleared his throat before answering, "A reporter got some inside information... killer probably heard about himself on the news... and changed his mo." He nervously explained.

"Oh great." Catherine suddenly snapped. "Help the bad guys why don't they? I'm sure they appreciated that." Nick swallowed hard as he picked up his evidence, realising that it was all his fault. If he had never opened his mouth to Kenny, this couple wouldn't be dead.

A few hours later, Nick exiled himself to the AV lab, getting on with processing the tapes that they got from the hotel bar. "Funny, doesn't look like a doghouse." Catherine's voice startled him from the doorway.

"Grissom ratted me out, huh?" Nick assumed as he looked over at her.

"Um... no, you ratted yourself out, Nicky." She smiled as she made her way over to him. "Hey Nicky, I know you're proud of what you do. You're good at what you do, and you want people to know what you do, but once you open your mouth, it's all over coz what we say always ends up on the news."

Nick nodded slightly, still feeling ashamed. "I guess I'm learnin' that the hard way, huh?"

* * *

**That's the end of chapter three. I hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter. I didn't want to drag out Greg being vulnerable and injuried for too long, that's why I skipped ahead four months.**

_A few notes from the refrences in this chapter:_

**The episode's this chapter is based around are **'Assume Nothing'** and** 'All for Our Country'** from season 4. If you don't remember Valerie, I think I mentioned her in the first few chapters of **'Baby Makes Three'** she was the girlfriend that Nick got pregnant. I decided to make her related to the college buddy Nick meets in that episode.**

**And if you read '**Baby Makes Three'** then you should also remember at Greg's surprise party one of Nick's sisters were pregnant at the same time that he was pregnant with Danielle. If you don't remember that, the baby's name in this one is 'Jimmy-Ray' and he's the one having the baptism that they're attending in Texas.**

**I don't know what age regular baptism's are performed since I'm not christian, but my big sister decided to baptise herself and her first baby when the baby was nearly two for her husbands family. I don't remember the actual service since it was around ten years ago, so I'll be doing some research on baptism's for that in a later chapter :D**

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed that.**

**Please review!**

**~ Holly**


	4. Chapter 4: People Pleaser

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing!**

* * *

**Chapter Four: People Pleaser**

Balancing his little girl on his hip as she started to babbly to herself, Greg fumbled with his keys in his hand, noticing Nick's truck still wasn't in the driveway. After he unlocked the front door, Greg nudged it open with his foot then head back to the car to retrieve his bags of groceries, struggling to balance Danielle against his hip as he lifted the bags into his hands.

"Hello Greg." A voice suddenly called out to him. Greg looked around the side of his car, spotting his neighbour from across the street, Anne Jones coming towards him. "Hi. You look like you could use some help." Anne took the grocery bags from his hands, giving him a wide smile.

"Thanks, Anne." Greg grabbed the last bag then closed up the boot of his car, leading the way into the house. "Where's Freddie today?" He queried as Anne was a stay at home mom, her youngest was just a couple of months older than Danielle.

"He's with his father. Jason took the kids out to the zoo today." Anne smiled round at him as she set down the grocery bags on the counter for Greg. "I need a break from them every once in a while, especially with the latest pregnancy. So he gladly took them all out. He calls every hour to tell me how annoying the kids are, and I just laugh." She chortled as she was a mother of six boys with a little one on the way.

Greg smiled back at her as he readjusted Danielle in his arms. "Isn't Freddie's birthday coming up soon?" He suddenly remembered, not wanting to discuss her pregnancy again, as she got pregnant around the same time as him and their babies were due within two weeks of each other. Anne and Jason's baby continued to thrive into her six month while Nick and Greg's ceased to exist.

"Yeah. October, that's why I stopped you actually," She grinned as she pulled out an envelope from the back pocket of her mom jeans and handed it over to Greg. "We'd like you, Nick and little Danielle here to come to the party. How does an afternoon of cake, party food, bouncy castles and screaming kids sound to you?" She tried to sell him on the idea.

"Sure, okay. We'd love to come." Greg smiled at her as he unbuttoned Danielle's jacket for her.

"She's getting so big." Anne smiled at the little girl in his arms. "It's her third birthday soon isn't it?"

"Not until December." Greg shook his head then carefully set Danielle down on the ground while he folded her jacket on the counter. "My mom will have a surprise party for her no doubt, no matter how many times I tell her not to. She never listens."

"At least your mother wants something to do with your kids. My mother was never a kid person. She hates it when my children call her 'grandma'." She giggled softly as she watched Danielle clinging to her father's leg as he started to put away the groceries. "My mother insists they call her auntie. She thinks it makes her sound younger or something, but then the kids get confused as I don't have any sisters."

"My mother loves the grandma term. She was born to be one." Greg chuckled as he carefully stepped around Danielle to load some things into the fridge. "Isn't it your anniversary tonight?" He suddenly noticed as he caught sight of the calendar on the wall beside the fridge.

"Yes, yes it is." A wide smile immediately spread across Anne's features. "We managed to get a babysitter for tonight, which is lucky. It'll probably be the last night we get to ourselves after this one pops out." She chuckled as she rubbed her pregnant stomach in front of Greg, noticing the hurt look in his eyes as he watched the simple action. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I forgot. Are you...?"

"I'm fine." He assured her as she rushed to apologise. "I'm happy for you and Jason, Anne." Greg smiled slightly to her then stepped around the counter, grabbing another grocery bag to unload.

"I hate to pry, sweetheart." Anne spoke softly as she took a step closer to him. "But how is everything, between you and Nick I mean. After Jas and I lost our second, I thought there was a time we were actually gonna break up."

"Oh, nothing like that. We're okay." Looking down at his hands, Greg confessed, "Nick's been here for me a lot. I just want things to go back to how they were before."

"Losing a child is awful, honey." She spoke from her heart as she placed her hand over her heart. "My offers still open Greg, if you ever need me to talk or anything... I'm right across the street."

Greg smiled half heartedly towards her then inhaled a deep breath before he spoke, "Thanks Anne. I really am okay though. I'm a lot stronger than people think, and it's not the first time I lost a child."

Anne nodded to him in understanding. "So, are you and Nick going to try for another? I lost one before Joey was born five years ago then five months later I got pregnant again. We just kept trying and never gave up hope. Never think that you don't deserve another child, Greg."

"Thanks. Listen Anne, I kinda got a lot to do." He dismissed her, ushering her off towards the doorway. "I'll tell Nick about the party and I'll let you know."

"Okay. Bye sweetie." She waved to the baby girl at his feet before she slowly made her way off down the path of his house and crossed the street back to her own house.

Greg watched her go then closed the door behind her, giving out a sigh as he leant against the door. Closing his eyes, Greg placed his hands on his stomach as he once again thought of the child he had been robbed of, until he heard a soft murmur coming from his daughter's lips.

Fluttering his eyes open, Greg looked down into her big brown eyes then smiled as he knelt down to pick her up. "I've still got you, princess." He whispered as he held her close, never wanting to let her go.

* * *

"We've got a match to a... Mandy Klinefield as one of our suspects." Nick announced as he handed the results over to Grissom. "That would make her husband, Cameron Klinefield her partner in crime."

The curious supervisor looked them over in his hand then gave his youngest CSI a wide smile. "Well, this should get us a warrant." Nick nodded in agreement then stepped aside as his supervisor made his way off out of the lab to get the judge to finally sign off on the warrant they desperately needed to search their murder suspect's house.

Nick stepped out into the hallway and glanced up towards the DNA lab surprised as he spotted Greg stood in his lab. Nick immediately hurried off into the lab, giving the younger man a curious look. "Greg, what are you doin' here?"

"I talked to Ecklie about some extra hours; he said that the lab could really use my help right now, so here I am." He simply explained, ignoring the shocked look on his fiancés face as he didn't run it by him first.

"Where's Danielle?"

"At my mom's. What did yah think I left her at home by herself? I'm not that stupid." Greg rolled his eyes at him as he dropped into his seat. "I'm bored at home, Nick. I just keep thinking about it. And the high up beat neighbours aren't helping. There's nothing on TV but dog movies, and dumb news... and I really need to keep my mind occupied or I just keep thinking about..."

"Okay, but you shoulda told me first." Nick cut him off as he leant on the other side of the desk. "I love you Greg, I'm just tryin' to protect you."

"I know. I just wish you'd stop." Greg glared at him a moment before he reached for the piece of paper coming from the printer. "Can you get this to Grissom?" He requested, handing it over to him. "And Nicky, I love you too." Greg winked at him before he turned around to get on with some more work.

* * *

A few hours later after the team had found their dead and murdered suspects in their own home; the CSI's got to work on processing their new crime scene then returned to the lab to go over their results. As soon as Nick found something, he hurried off through the lab with his results in hand. He stopped by Grissom's office, spotting Warrick waiting outside for him so they could present their case.

"Hey Griss, the pieces of plastic that we found on the Klinefield's carpet, they had GSR, polyethylene and corn syrup on them... cola bottle basically that was used for a silencer." Nick explained as he presented him with his evidence. "The cell phone traced back to a public defender's stolen cell phone. She said that she lost it and that it made her life hell while she was in DC. I'm thinkin' that our shooter was sittin' on the house and the surveillance team."

Grissom nodded as he looked over the results for himself. "So... he empties out the bottle of soda near where I found the ant puddle. Calls in 'officer down' on the stolen cell phone... then leaves it there while he takes a walk across the street to murder our murderers?"

"Yeah." Nick and Warrick chimed in together.

"But we checked the trash, there was no soda bottle." Grissom pointed out to them. "There was nothing in the house; nothing on the street either... why leave the cell phone and not the bottle?" He thought out loud to himself then looked up towards the door as Greg suddenly appeared. "Greg? What are you doing here?"

"I talked to Ecklie and he said that the lab could really use my help." He simply explained. "I just wanted to let you know that I was in today."

"Okay." Grissom nodded to him then looked down at the paperwork in his hands before he glanced up at Warrick and Nick the other side of his desk. "So, who do we have around here that could find us a somewhat used soda bottle?" The three men looked between each other then slowly turned their heads to look at Greg behind them.

Greg looked at them all a moment, feeling their stares burning into him. "What?"

* * *

While Nick was at the lab processing the shoe prints he had found, Greg was outside in the field with his camera in hand, searching the streets around the Klinefield's house in search of the soda bottle used as a silencer. Outside in the fresh air, Greg felt more freedom as he was doing his job. He wasn't in a cramped lab that he was worrying was going to blow up every five minutes, and he never really did like being cooped up indoors all day anyway.

Greg had always wanted more out of his career, and as he started patrolling the streets in search of a soda bottle related to their crime scene, Greg realised that he wanted a job in the field more now than ever before. He was always intrigued to hear about Nick's job at the end of his day, field work just seemed so much more exciting than being a lab technician for the rest of his life.

He knew Nick wasn't going to like it, and he knew his mother would never let him either, making the young man give out a heavy sigh of annoyance as he was going to be thirty in two years and he still couldn't do what he wanted.

Greg stopped walking as he reached a storm drain, noticing something out of the corner of his eye. Checking there was no traffic coming his way; Greg slowly lowered himself to the ground, lying down flat on his stomach as he clicked his flashlight on and looked down into the drain, smiling slightly as he spotted something inside that could be of some use.

How he was going to get it out was the bigger question though.

* * *

"Grissom!" Ecklie called from his office doorway as the graveyard shift supervisor passed by. Grissom looked around at him surprised as he hadn't realised he was being monitored on his walk back from the police station after finishing up his interrogation with their prime suspect, Officer Fromansky. "Gil, I need to talk to you in my office for a moment."

"If this is about the over time thing again, not my fault. You want this case solved don't you?" Grissom went to make a break for it, but Ecklie seemed to follow him down the hall to his office.

"This isn't about the over time, although you are costing this lab a bundle by keeping your CSI's on triple shifts." He commented as he folded his arms across his chest. "Why not hand the case over to day shift...?"

"Because it's our case and its top priority." Grissom informed him as he stepped behind his desk and removed his jacket. "We've already handed over the extra cases to your guys, and as far as I know, none of your guys are sat in the lab doing nothing right now..."

"That's not the point Gil, we can't have this many CSI's on shift at one time."

"Funny enough Conrad, I don't much care for the overcrowding of employees in the building at the same time. I'm more concerned about giving these victims justice." Grissom glared at him then dropped into his seat. "Once we've finished this case, the shifts will go back to normal again. If we didn't have this many CSI's into work today, you'd be complaining that we were short staffed... and that's worse than getting the job done quickly and efficiently." He pointed out to him through a smirk.

Ecklie just glared at him a moment, struggling to think of a comeback then sighed softly and turned to walk away, muttering something under his breath as he passed by Sara and Catherine heading towards the trace lab to collect their results.

Grissom watched him walking away then turned his attention towards Nick as he entered his office. "Hey Griss, since our vigilante cop admitted to the murder... is that it for us?"

"Hold on, Nicky." Grissom pointed to the empty seat in front of him. "Take a seat."

Nervously adjusting his jacket collar, Nick apprehensively made his way over to the desk and cautiously dropped himself into the empty seat as he gulped down the nervous tension rising through his body. "Griss, if this is ab..."

"You made a fatal mistake by opening your mouth to someone you used to know, Nicky." Grissom cut him off, not even looking at him as he continued to speak, "You compromised the case which resulted in our suspects changing their mo. A simple mistake like that could have cost us a conviction."

Nick gulped hard as he nodded up at Grissom, feeling even guiltier now. He could also feel the same terror he used to feel when he was in trouble with his father back when he was a child. His father would make him sweat in his office chair for a few minutes before he pointed out his mistakes and raised his voice to him that always made him tremble with fear.

Grissom wasn't like that, he spoke in a calm tone, but the disappointment in him was written all across his face. "I personally don't feel I need to take any disciplinary action," Grissom continued, glancing up at Nick over the frames of his glasses. "But..." Removing his glasses, Grissom tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips together as he tried to think of a way to say it. "Despite your mistake Nicky, you showed great leadership in running this case. I would have preferred it if you had come to me from the start, I value honesty more than deceit." He spoke in a disappointed tone then pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and reached for a pen to continue working on the case file. "I'll see you when you get back from Texas."

Nick looked at him surprised a moment then slowly climbed to his feet, feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he turned and walked out of Grissom's office, heading straight for the locker room to collect his things.

Greg immediately hurried into the locker room after him, collecting his coat from his locker. "So, what did he say?"

"Huh?" Nick looked round at him confused.

"Grissom, about your little..."

"You heard about that?" Nick frowned as he looked into Greg's eyes. "You are seriously a gossip queen, Greg. How is it that you always hear about everythin' that goes on in here?" He smirked as he started searching his pockets for his keys. "Damn it, where's my keys?"

"People talk." Greg simply answered his question as he reached into the middle pocket of Nick's jacket, retrieving the keys for him so they could leave. "So, what did Grissom say? You're not fired or on suspended leave are you?"

"Nah." Nick shook his head as he led the way off towards the elevators. "He didn't really say that much about it. I could tell he was disappointed in me though." Greg just gave him a curious look as he leant back against the wall of the elevator. "I didn't even think at the time. It just kinda... came out."

"I know how that is." Greg nodded to him. "That happens to me all the time, but it's different with you."

"Why's it different?" Nick queried, giving him a quizzical look as the elevator doors opened out to the parking garage.

"You like to be liked." Greg responded then led the way off towards Nick's truck, unlocking the doors with the keys in his hands.

Nick snatched them back as he wanted to drive, giving the younger man a slight smile as he thought about what he had said. He continued to think about it on the drive back to Greg's mother's house too, as they went to collect their daughter and finally go home.

Looking back on his history, Nick soon realised that his fiancés statement about him was true. He did like to be liked, that was exactly the reason why he didn't tell Kenny that he was living with a man and the same reason that he hadn't told his fiancé about the teenager he had with his ex-girlfriend that was now living in the city. He didn't want to lose Greg, but he wanted to find out who his child was and get to know them a little. Especially after he had already lost one of his own flesh and blood, the thirst to find this new connection in the world was overwhelming.

* * *

A few days later after a four hour flight to Austin, Texas, Greg felt his legs cramping from all the sitting down. He hated to have to go all the way over to Texas for one of Nick's boring family gatherings, but he did promise he would be there for him. "You know Nicky, when we take our vows; I'm leaving out the part about supporting you to travel all the way to Texas for another one of your families pointless get togethers." Greg informed him at the car rental stand.

"Oh, you're gettin' married?" The middle aged woman behind the counter gasped as she looked at the two of them, immediately turning her eyes to the sleeping child in the younger mans arms. "And you're taking on his child? That is so noble of you." She applauded the young man.

Nick widened his eyes then gave her a half smile as he signed the paperwork, "Uh yeah... thanks a lot Ma'am."

"Oh, you're a Texas boy too?" She looked between them even more surprised before she checked over the paperwork in her hands. "Well congratulations Mr Stokes, have fun with the big family event. And you look after that little cutie too. She is so lucky to have two handsome fathers like you."

Reaching for Nick's arm, Greg tugged him away from the counter muttering, "Thanks," then paused to read her name off her badge. "Rosalind, we have to go." Greg pulled Nick off towards the door, confusing the older man as he had never seen Greg acting so jealous before. "God could you stop flirting with women in front of me for five minutes, Nick?" He moaned as they stepped outside.

"I wasn't flirtin'." Nick protested, taking the luggage from Greg's hands so he wouldn't drop a sleepy Danielle from his arms. "She was flirtin' with me." He defended himself through a smile.

"Right!" He sarcastically laughed. "Just like how the stewardess didn't flirt with you when she plugged your seatbelt in." The younger man remarked, readjusting Danielle in his arms.

"I got a dodgy seatbelt, that wasn't my fault. She copped a feel all on her own." Nick led them off towards the rental car, giving out a sigh of frustration as he forgot to rent the baby seat. "Stay here a sec, I'll be right back."

"Going back to see your _girl_friend? This time remember to get her number!" Greg called after him, grinning widely as Nick looked round at him surprised. "Sorry baby," Greg whispered as Danielle opened one of her eyes. "I told you your daddy's too pretty for his own good."

Nick headed back to the desk to rent one of the baby seats from a different woman then joined Greg back by the car, climbing into the back so he could securely strap it in. "You know this gettin' mad at me about everythin' is really startin' to get old, Greg. I asked you if you wanted to come..."

"Well I couldn't let you go alone." Greg carefully handed Danielle over to Nick, watching him strapping their sleeping child into the back of the car before he continued, "And I wasn't getting mad at you about _everything_. But you do flirt."

"If I remember correctly, the stewardess was starin' at _you_ when she strapped _me_ in." Nick pointed out to him as he gently placed the blanket around his daughter.

Greg frowned at him. "She didn't cop a feel of _my_ bicep, cowboy. That was all you."

"Yeah, but Rosalind assumed Danielle was your daughter because you're cuter then me. And she said our baby girl is so lucky to have _two_ handsome fathers. Two Greg, that means she meant both of us." Nick pointed out to him then climbed out the car to load their bags into the boot.

"You're a flirt, just admit it."

"I wasn't freakin' flirtin'!" He snapped, not realising until now that Greg was just trying to wind him up. "You know I hate it when you do that." Touching his lips to Greg's cheek, Nick wrapped his arms securely around his waist, pulling his back closer against his own body. "I love you, baby. I don't need to flirt with anyone because I have you. And I'm sorry I dragged you all the way over to Texas for this dumb family thing." He apologised again.

"You're completely forgiven." Greg assured him, leaning back into his strong embrace. "I love you too, and you didn't drag me. I'd travel all the way around the world just to stay at your side."

Nick smiled softly, gently swaying his body against Greg's before he smirked, "Need me to change the diapers, huh? It's okay, at least I'm needed for _somethin'_." Gently turning Greg in his arms, Nick brought their mouths together for a soft kiss, smiling softly as he pulled back from him. "I'm just glad you're talkin' to me again. It's been really quiet without hearin' you talkin' or laughin'."

"I'm sorry, but I lost..."

"I know baby." Nick cut him off, touching their lips together again. "But I missed you."

"I missed you too." Circling his arms around Nick's waist, Greg leant closer against his warm body, resting his head against Nick's shoulder. "Losing this baby was different to the first one. It was your baby and I lost him."

Nick looked down at Greg surprised by his word choice. "Wait a minute . . . did you just say him? As in he? A boy?"

"Yeah." Greg nodded, immediately regretting it as he pulled back from him. "The doctor told me... after. I asked him not to tell you." He explained, gently pushing the back door of the car shut. "Are you mad that I kept that from you?"

Nick shook his head as he slowly made his way round to the driver's side door. "No, I'm not mad. I just... I didn't know we were gonna have a boy." He spoke softly, feeling his heart aching now that he knew the sex of the baby that they lost.

"Are you okay, Nicky?"

"Yeah, we've still got each other, and we've got Danielle." Nick added as he leant on the roof of the car, looking over at Greg. "I love both of you more than anythin'. We lost a baby that we're never gonna get to know, but I've still got you two."

"That didn't really answer my question." Greg pointed out to him.

"I'm okay, Greg." He assured him through a small smile. "It's not like we can't try again, right? And if not... we've still got Danielle. And I've still got you. That's the important thing."

Greg returned the smile then climbed into the passenger seat of the car, pulling his seatbelt on over his shoulder. Nick climbed in the other side, strapping himself in too. Once Nick started the car, he held Greg's hand across the middle of the car while he directed the car off towards his mother's new house where she had been living since her separation from her husband two years ago.

The house wasn't as grand as the ranch where Nick grew up, but it suited his mother just fine. Greg had only seen the ranch where Nick and his family grew up in photographs, but he could tell how much Nick loved it there from how he spoke about it. He had only been to one of his sister's ranches which he was told wasn't as grand as the big Stokes family ranch. Nick had hoped to take Greg and his daughter there one day, but he wasn't allowed to step foot on the grounds because his father was still living there and still stubborn as ever all on his own.

Nick stopped the rental car outside of her house, putting the parking brake on before he unbuckled his seatbelt then climbed out the car, heading round to the back to retrieve their luggage while Greg lifted a still sleeping Danielle from the child seat in the back. "She never sleeps this much at home." Greg smirked as he rested her against his chest. "We should fly more often; it puts her right to sleep."

"That'll be a bit expensive, G." Nick smirked as he locked up the car. "It's better that she slept through it all anyway. Remember what she was like last year when we flew over for thanksgivin'? She cried her head off for the whole flight over." He reminded him as he collected up their bags, carrying them off up the driveway towards the front door.

"She was teething, that wasn't her fault." Greg defended her, even though he did feel really embarrassed on that flight as everyone was staring at them and their screaming baby as if it was their fault.

As Nick approached the door, Jillian caught sight of the car in her driveway. Stopping what she was doing, Jillian quickly rushed for the door to greet them inside with the phone still firmly pressed against her shoulder. "Yes it's alright, Jean." She laughed into her cell phone as she moved it closer to her ear. "They've just pulled up now . . . yes all three them . . . okay dear, speak to you later... buh bye." Jillian chuckled as she snapped her phone shut then rushed to greet her youngest son with a warm hug. "Hi honey, how was your flight?"

"Fine." He assured her, returning the warm hug to her. "Jean checkin' up on us already?"

"You know she always does." She chortled then released her son to hug her youngest son in law, being careful of the sleeping infant in his arms. "And how's this adorable little girl doin'?" She whispered as she lifted Danielle from her father's arms into her own. She excitedly carried her sleeping grandchild up the path into her house while her son brought the rest of the bags in. "Nicky, I've set up the guestroom at the end of the hall upstairs for Danielle and the one across that for you. Greg can sleep downstairs in the den." His mother instructed as she carried her grandchild off into the kitchen where she was making one of her son's favourite chillies.

Greg gave out another moan of disappointment just as he always did whenever they came over to Nick's mother's house. She always made them sleep in separate rooms, miles away from each other. She liked Greg; she just pretended that he was her youngest son's _friend_ and not his lover.

Nick took Greg's bag off towards the den, setting it down by the fold out couch. He hated the sleeping arrangements too, but he couldn't argue with his mother as she was the only parent still talking to him.

While Greg was in the kitchen making small talk with Nick's mother, Nick carried his bag up to the guest bedroom, unloading his clothes for the weekend into the dresser. He then made his way across the hall with the largest bag of them all, unloading Danielle's clothes and things into the dresser and cabinets across the room.

* * *

"Is she still not potty trained?" Jillian queried as she reluctantly handed her grandchild back over to Greg, recognising the familiar feel of a diaper beneath the baby's clothes. "Jimmy-Ray is five months younger than her and he was potty trained last year. He still wears those pull up pants at night time, but he's never had an accident since." She pointed out to him, not noticing Greg rolling his eyes as he knew she was going to rub that in his face again. "Maybe you should try a different technique? You know if I want, I could help teach..."

"No, we're fine." He insisted. "I'm gonna go get her set up in her room." Greg glared at his mother in law as he headed off towards the staircase. He was furious with her that she would just forget he was involved in a lab explosion and lost a baby. He hadn't had time to potty train his child; he could barely stand let alone lift her in the past few months with his injuries.

"Hey baby, I put all her clothes in that one." Nick pointed to the dresser against the wall. "You okay?"

"No, but I'm doing this because I love you." Greg carefully set Danielle down onto the bed, adjusting the covers around her. "How old were you when you were potty trained?" He suddenly queried.

"Um... I think I was nearly three." Nick answered, handing Greg the blanket from Danielle's bag.

"Exactly, I was three and a half." He complained. "Danielle's only two, why is everyone trying to rush her?"

"Oh, she give you the potty trainin' talk again?" Nick gently wrapped his arms around Greg's waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. "There's no set age that a child has to be potty trained, G. Kayla's son John-Paul was still in trainin' when he was five. And the Jones' across the street from us, her two year old son gets it more than her five year old son. It's just different with different kids."

"I know that, just why can't other people see it? Everyone in your family acts as if we're doing something wrong. Like this stupid baptism," He complained, turning in Nick's arms to look him in the eye. "I realise Kayla is baptising Jimmy-Ray so your family will approve, but they keep asking us when we're going to baptise Danielle, then when we tell them that we're not they all act as if we're monsters or something."

"We agreed that we're not goin' ahead with it because we don't believe that a two year old could do somethin' so bad that they'd have to be baptised. Kayla's doin' it for tradition and Gwen only did it last year because her daughter asked why her brothers and sisters were baptised and she wasn't. None of them really care what it really stands for, they're just doin' it because it's a dumb Stokes tradition." Nick told him as he placed his hands on the younger man's hips. "We don't have to do this Greg, we can go back home if you want."

"No, I'm here for you. Just if one more of your family complains about one more thing I'm doing wrong... you're gonna owe me big time, Tex." He sternly warned him.

"Okay, I will, I promise baby. Just stay out of my Mama's way whenever she starts, okay?" Greg nodded to him then stepped forwards to hug him tightly. "Now c'mon, I'm hungry for some of that chilli." Nick eagerly grinned as he smoothed his palms across his lover's back.

"You like it the way I cook it though, doncha?"

"Oh yeah, I just have to be nice because she's my mother." Nick winked at him, leading him off towards the stairs.

"But I'm your fiancé; does that mean you just say that because you have to?" Greg queried in a soft tone of voice as he followed him down the stairs.

"No, I never lie to you." Nick assured him.

"Ah ha, there you go again." Greg giggled softly as Nick turned to face him. "Who knows if you're ever telling the truth, Nicholas Stokes? For all I know I'm a terrible cook, bad in bed and you hate the way I dress."

"Would you stop?" Nick chuckled softly as he pulled him into his arms. "I love you; I always tell you the complete and honest truth. You are in no way a terrible cook, you're great in bed and I love the way you dress." He assured him as he looked deep into his eyes.

Greg gave him a suspicious look as he tried to tell whether he was lying or not.

"Okay, I believe you." He finally grinned, snatching a kiss from his lips before they separated and headed off towards the dining room where Jillian was just serving up some of her chilli that Nick preferred when Greg made it as it had more of kick from all the spices he used.

"Mmmm, that smells delicious, Mama." Nick smiled towards her as he pat his empty stomach.

Greg just graced her with a weak demure smile as he dropped into his seat, waiting a moment for her to say grace as last time he forgot and she looked at him as though he had just committed a sin by eating before the prayer was said.

"Nicky, would you like to say grace?" Jillian asked her son as she dropped down into her seat, setting a napkin down on her lab before she bowed her head and put her hands together.

"Bless us, O lord, and these your gifts, which we are about to receive from your bounty..." Nick started, glancing up towards Greg to check he had bowed his head, but he was sneaking a taste of the chilli while Jillian was preoccupied with her head bowed and eyes closed.

"Thank you, Mrs Stokes." Greg immediately announced as soon as he heard the familiar 'Amen' that to him meant, 'Meal time!'

Appreciating the young man's very formal manners, Jillian directed a wide sunny smile in his direction. "You're welcome Greg, and how many times have I told you to call me Jillian?" She giggled softly as she tapped the back of his hand. "It's okay sweetheart, it's nice to have such a polite son in law for a change."

Greg smiled back at her, wishing her manners were a little politer towards him. She made him sleep in the den where the dog used to sleep before it croaked and she acted as though he was _just_ Nick's friend visiting him every time she saw him. He knew it was probably just her way of dealing with her son being gay, but he considered it very rude to treat him as though he was just a visitor and not Danielle's equal father.

Straight after dinner, Greg headed off upstairs to check on Danielle while Nick helped his mother with the washing up.

"Hey there sleepy head," Greg whispered as he knelt down beside her bed.

Danielle turned her head to look at him, gently sucking the dummy in her mouth as he looked into her father's dreary expression. As Danielle reached out her little hand to him, Greg smiled, affectionately brushing his fingers through her short strands of hair that lay across her forehead. He couldn't imagine his life without her, and he really didn't want to either. Nick and Danielle meant the world to him, that's why he would tolerate the Stokes family, even though they loathed him behind his back.

'Welcome to my world.' Nick's words echoed through his mind.

After having a taste of the Stokes family life in the two short years he had known them, Greg really didn't want to be in his world anymore but he did it for Nick's sake. Every day he was hated by them, he told himself that he was doing it for Nick's sake and it made everything better.

After Jillian had retired to her bedroom and Nick had kissed him goodnight, heading off to the guest bedroom to go to sleep, Greg tossed and turned on the uncomfortable pull out in the den, missing his big comfortable blanket that always lay against him while he slept. After two years of sleeping with Nick in the same bed, Greg was addicted. And like any other addict, he was beginning to suffer withdrawal symptoms.

Depression, anxiety and his cravings for him drove through his system, keeping him awake for hours. Just when he was about to give in from the whole 'cold turkey' on Nick, the door at the end of his bed creaked open, revealing a tall dark figure. He quietly clicked the door shut behind him then crawled on all fours across the bed towards Greg, revealing his handsome features from the street lamp pouring in through the window.

Greg gave him a wide smile, immediately accepting his advance towards his mouth for a heavenly soft kiss. "Mmm, you read my mind." Greg purred as he pulled back from him. Nick returned the wide smile then crawled under the covers with Greg, spooning his warm body tightly against his own. With his big comfy blanket now against him, Greg dozed right off to sleep, not worrying about the consequences if Jillian happened to find the two of them together in the same bed.

* * *

**Theres chapter 4!**

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews on the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too. Thanks for reading, please review!**

**~ Holly**


	5. Chapter 5: Green Eyed Monsters

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews! I'm sorry about the long gaps between updates, I've been busy with work and hospital runs with my mother. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing this for me!**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Green Eyed Monsters**

Slowly awaking in his partner's warm embrace, Greg instantly forgot the nightmare he had just endured as he leant further back against his bed mate's warm body, feeling his soft breath brushing against the vulnerable skin on the back of his neck. As he gave out a wide yawn of exhaustion, he started to scratch his forearm, his thigh then his chest as he felt as though something was crawling all over him.

"Do you have fleas?" The older man behind him suddenly smirked as he wrapped his arms tighter around him.

"No, but I think this bed does."

"Bite your tongue." Nick laughed softly as he poked his partner in the side. "My mother's very clean. There's no way this bed can have fleas."

"I wouldn't put it past her to infect a bed I'm sleeping in with fleas." Greg snickered softly as he pushed back the covers from his body to stop himself from itching. "The dog did croak in here, maybe he had fleas and they spread to the furniture."

"You're bein' paranoid." Nick gently lifted Greg's arm that he was scratching to inspect the itchy red spots on his arm. "That's not flea bites G, that's hives." He pointed out to him.

"What, are you serious?" Greg rolled over onto his back to look at the small bumps covering his arms. The ones at his wrists had joined together and inflamed, looking more like burn marks rather than rashes, while the ones covering his arms made him look as though he had chicken pox. "How the hell could I get hives?" He suddenly shrieked in fear, having never had them before.

"Allergies?" Nick suggested as he sat up straight to inspect the rest of his partner's body, finding more of the itchy bumps on his thighs and stomach. "I'm sure my Mama has some antihistamines around the house somewhere. She always keeps them handy for her allergies."

"I don't have any allergies though." Greg pointed out to him as Nick climbed off the bed, heading straight for the nearest bathroom to inspect the medicine cabinet while Greg itched at the swollen welts on his arms.

"Stop itchin'." Nick warned him as he came back from the bathroom with a small box of antihistamines in his hands. "Here, take two of these." Greg took the box from his hands as Nick dropped back onto the bed beside him to continue examining the welts covering his lover's body. "Maybe you _are_ allergic to somethin' and you just don't know it, G?" He suggested as he looked him back in the eye.

"Doubtful, because I didn't eat or drink anything I haven't had a thousand times before." Greg pointed out to him as he popped two pills into his mouth, after reading through the instructions on the back of the box. "I told you I wouldn't put it past her to infect the bed I was sleeping on with something."

"She could never hurt you. And you can't purposely infect someone with hives." Nick assured him as he lay down beside him, gently touching his lips to his cheek. As Greg continued to scratch, Nick pried his hands away from his body to make him stop. "Quit it G, you'll make it worse." Greg gave out a soft groan as he lay back against the bed, trying to stop himself from itching at the burning inflammation covering half of his body.

"It itches." He complained, rubbing at the skin instead of scratching it.

Grabbing his partner's hands so he would stop, Nick pressed kisses to the backs of his hands then held them tightly in his own as he looked into the younger man's eyes. "Honey, maybe we should go back to the doctor?"

"Oh my god Nick, why do you always have to say that?" He asked as he pulled his hands away from him. "I'm not some nut job. I don't need a doctor."

"Shh," Nick hissed at him as he couldn't let his mother know he was in here with him. "You've been like this for months now. You won't talk to me about it."

"How can I talk to you? You'll never understand. I had a living, breathing baby growing inside of me and now it's gone and I'm never gonna get to meet em. I'll never hold em in my arms, see them smile or hear his cries when he needs me. He's just gone. We should be decorating the room, picking out names and buying clothes... not this."

Nick gently touched his lips to his forehead then wiped away his tears with his thumb. "Thank you. That's the most you've told me in months, Greg."

"Usually you don't wonna listen, you just listen to what your mother tells you." Greg pointed out to him as he scratched at his inflamed wrist. "If we really are gonna get married Nick, I want it to be you and me. No mothers or mother in laws deciding for us. You're thirty two; it's time to stop listening to her."

"I don't listen to her. I'm marryin' you and we were..." Nick stopped himself from saying it as he saw the pain in Greg's eyes.

"You were gonna have another baby with me when she didn't want you to. I bet she's thrilled it didn't turn out that way, huh?"

"No... no she wasn't, Greg." He assured him, moving his hands away to stop him scratching again. "Honey, you'll be fine. They'll go away eventually. You just have to stop scratchin' em."

"You could at least _pretend_ to care about me a little bit."

"I just climbed out of bed to get you antihistamines. I never climb out of bed to get the baby at home; I always make you do it." Nick pointed out to him. "There's nothin' I can do to make it better anyway."

"Like most things." Greg muttered under his breath.

Nick rolled his eyes at him, before he rolled over onto the empty spot of the bed beside him. He didn't want to get in an argument with him for fear of what he might say, and his mother wasn't supposed to know that he was in here with him so he just kept quiet.

As it got closer and closer to seven am though, Nick decided to climb out of bed and head back off up the stairs to his room so that his mother would never know that he snuck down the stairs to sleep in the same bed as his fiancé.

"Good Mornin' Greg." Jillian politely greeted the young man as he entered her kitchen after a shower and a change of clothes. "Did you sleep well?" She asked as she flipped the bacon in her pan over the stove. Greg gave her a slight nod as he sunk down into one of the seats, itching at the hives burning his skin beneath his large hooded sweatshirt he decided to wear to cover them up. "I've got egg bake and bacon on the stove, you hungry?"

"No thank you, Mrs Sto... Jillian." He corrected himself as he gave her a slight smile. "I'm not really that hungry today. I'll grab something later though, so you don't need to alert my mother."

Jillian gave out a soft chuckle then looked towards the door as her son arrived with her granddaughter in his arms. "Good Mornin' sweethearts." She happily exclaimed, rushing to greet her son with a hug and a kiss to the cheek. "Did you sleep well honey?" She asked as she reached for the baby in his arms.

"Yeah, thank you Mama." Nick handed Danielle over to her then took a seat at the table with Greg, noticing he was still itching at his arms.

Jillian lifted Danielle down into the highchair, ignoring her whimpering protest as she strapped her in. "Nicky, would you like some egg bake and bacon?" She queried as she head back over to the stove.

"Yes please."

"Comin' right up." Jillian smiled at her son then served the breakfast out onto two plates, setting one down for Nick and one for herself before she grabbed the freshly heated up oatmeal for her granddaughter Danielle.

Having never had oatmeal before, Danielle looked at the gooey liquid sat in front of her wide eyed before she started poking at it with the spoon in her hands, giving her older father a curious look as he got a plate of brightly coloured foods while she got slop.

"How do you like your coffee again, Greg?" Jillian queried as she started to make one for herself and her son.

"Same as me." Nick instantly answered for him, giving his partner a slight smile as he looked up at him. "Hey Mama, did you use any different spices or herbs in the chillies last night?" He queried as he stopped Greg from itching again.

"No." Jillian shook her head as she set down the three mugs of coffee for them all before she took her seat. "I used all the usual stuff, why?"

"No reason." Nick shook his head as Greg scowled across the table at him. "So, what time are we meetin' Kayla?"

Jillian checked her watch on her wrist, shivering slightly as she realised she had worn her thirtieth wedding anniversary present from her ex-husband without even realising it. "Oh... eh... in about two hours." She finally answered as she unstrapped the watch from her wrist and placed it down on the table beside her. "Apparently Jimmy-Ray is fussin' already. That's why I tried to do you lot when you were babies, so you didn't get much choice in the matter whether you wanted to go or not." Noticing the shocked expression on her house guest's face, Jillian chuckled softly in his direction. "I meant that as a joke of course, Greg. You'd understand if you were tryin' to christen a one year old Nicky with six other children under the age of thirteen who are complainin' they're bored every few minutes. It was a nightmare." She laughed at the memory then smiled towards her youngest son. "But you were the most well behaved, honey. I think you were actually asleep until the minister had to pour the water on your head. You were not happy about that."

"I don't think anyone would be, wakin' up with a wet head." Nick smirked.

"True." She chortled. "Gwen's was the worst of them all. That was... seven years before you were born, Nicky. I think Chuck was around five, Lillian was three and Gwen was nearly two. We left it a while because I was tryin' to deal with the twins Ronnie and Vicki. Really we should have done it sooner, as the twins were just a couple of months old and they cried and screamed their little heads off through the whole service. What about you, Greg," She queried, looking towards her quiet guest. "When were you christened?"

Gulping down the hot mouthful of coffee, Greg shook his head to her, knowing she was going to find it shocking or possibly even blame it on the reason that he was gay, but he didn't care. "I wasn't christened. My mom never believed that a baby could do something wrong to be baptised for their sins." He answered her, clearing his throat before he nervously continued, "Just the same as we never said grace or bed time prayers, it just wasn't... a thing in our house. My mom said she'd rather thank the chef for the meal, rather than somebody she couldn't see and never met."

"Oh." Jillian looked at him surprised, then turned her head towards her son. "You never told me that, honey." It sounded as though she was politely scolding him, but Nick didn't take any notice as he only prayed when he was in her house. He had stopped believing a long time ago, he just didn't let his mother know as she'd probably disown him for that more than the having a boyfriend thing. "What about Danielle, are you still not goin' to get her christened?" She queried, not noticing the mess her grandchild was causing at the other end of the table.

Greg shook his head then looked across the table towards Nick, hoping he'd agree with his decision in front of his mother, for once. "Uh... well... we haven't really talked about." Nick confessed to his mother, gulping down his last mouthful of food as he turned his head to face her. "But I don't think we will, we don't really see any point in doin' it for the sake of tradition."

"Oh... okay." His mother seemed to accept his answer before she climbed to her feet and began clearing away the plates, finally noticing that Danielle had tipped her bowl of oatmeal upside-down and had started to spread it around across the serving tray with her bare hands, rather than the spoon.

Danielle gave her fathers a cheeky smile as they looked at the mess she had caused in just a few short minutes without supervision.

"I'll clean her up." Greg suggested as he climbed to his feet, wanting to be as far away from his mother in law while she was in her moment of wrath over not getting her own way.

Lifting the messy tot from her seat, Greg returned her cheeky smile as he carried her off up the stairs to clean her hands and face and change her out of the sticky clothes so she didn't show up at the baptism in dirty clothes.

* * *

"The grace of our lord Jesus Christ," The reverend started just as two year old Jimmy-Ray started fiddling with the bowtie tied around his neck, choking him. He had already popped open the buttons of his smart little waistcoat and requested that he take his jacket off as it was too uncomfortable. Jimmy-Ray couldn't stop fidgeting, no matter how many times his mother Kayla told him to stand still. He just wasn't the type of child who could stand still for long periods of time.

"The love of God and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you all." He continued.

"And also with you." The Stokes family's voices echoed through the church.

"Our lord Jesus Christ has told us that to enter the kingdom of heaven we must be born again of water and the spirit, and he has given us baptism as the sign and seal of this new birth." The reverend continued as Greg gave out a wide yawn of boredom. He was suddenly very glad that his parents weren't religious and didn't drag him off to church like the Stokes' as he was bored already and they hadn't even started yet. "Faith is the gift of God to our people. In baptism the lord is adding to our number those whom he is calling. People of God, will welcome this child and uphold him in his new life in Christ?"

"With the help of God, we will." The Stokes family said together again. Nick and his sister Gwen then climbed to their feet, standing with Kayla and her husband Marcus at the front of the church for their part in the service.

"Parents and Godparents," The reverend spoke to them, "The church receives this child with joy. Today we are trusting God for his growth in faith. Will you pray for him, draw him by your example into the community of faith and walk with them in the way of Christ?"

"With the help of God, we will." Marcus, Kayla, Gwen and Nick all spoke together like robots.

"In baptism this child will begin his journey in faith. You speak for them today. Will you care for them, and help them to take their place within the life of worship of Christ's church?" The reverend continued just as Jimmy-Ray gave out his own yawn of boredom.

"With the help of God, we will." They repeated.

"In baptism, God calls us out of the darkness into his marvellous light. To follow Christ means dying in sin and rising to new life with him. Therefore I ask," Turning to Gwen and Nick beside him, the reverend started to address them with the decision. "Nicholas Parker Stokes, do you reject the devil and all rebellion against God?"

"I reject them." Nick answered.

"Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil?"

"I renounce them."

Nick's older brother Chuck scoffed, getting a loud hiss from his mother to keep him quiet. The reverend looked towards the disturbance then glanced back at the book he was preaching from in his hands to continue, "Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?"

"I repent them." Nick answered, catching sight of his older brother rolling his eyes at him. He had never accepted Nick since he told his whole family about Greg and Danielle, but he didn't really care because he was the only other one besides his father that didn't accept him.

Chuck kept his feelings about his brother hidden from the rest of the family as they had all pushed their own father out of their life after he told them they weren't allowed to spend time or socialise with their baby brother anymore, but that didn't stop Chuck from openly showing his hatred of his brother's lifestyle.

"Do you turn to Christ as Saviour?" The reverend continued.

"I turn to Christ." Nick responded.

"Do you submit to Christ as lord?"

"I submit to Christ." Nick agreed, smiling softly as he saw Greg giving out a wide yawn of boredom from the back row.

"Do you come to Christ, the way, the truth and the life?"

"I come to Christ."

Once the reverend was done with Nick, he turned to his sister Gwen, repeating the whole thing so that Gwen could give the same answers as her baby brother before the reverend moved onto the next part of the never ending service, "Christ claims you for his own. Receive the sign of the cross," The reverend made the cross of water on Jimmy-Ray's forehead. His parents Kayla and Marcus then had to do the same, followed by Gwen and Nick, making Jimmy-Ray squirm as he now had a very wet head. "May almighty God deliver you from powers of darkness; restore you in the image of his glory, and lead you into the light of his glory."

"Amen." The church echoed with voices, startling Greg from his sleep.

He was starting to wonder how much longer this was going to go on for as his back side was starting to go numb from sitting on the hard wooden bench. He could see that Danielle was fast asleep at the front of the church in her grandmother's arms, while Greg was exiled to the back row where a cold breeze from the doors was brushing against the vulnerable skin on his neck. Luckily he wasn't the only one though; their homosexual uncle Eldon and his partner Gerald were sat the other side of him, along with dear old Aunt Agatha and the hermit Uncle Ray.

Gerald was playing hangman on his phone and Eldon was counting ceiling tiles. Agatha looked half asleep and Uncle Ray's eyes were completely dilated as he stared down the centre of the church, concentrating on the action going on in the front.

Looking around the room though, Greg noticed that most of the Stokes family weren't actually paying attention to what was going on up front. Nick's twin sisters Veronica and Victoria were scolding their fidgeting children. Nick's oldest sister Lillian was twirling her long brown hair around her fingers before she started picking at the pealing nail polish on her fingernails and Nick's brother was acting like a child himself as he glared at the sibling he despised in front of him.

"We have brought this child to baptism knowing that Jesus died and rose again for them, and trusting in the promise that God hears and answers prayers," The reverend started the next prayer. "We have prayed that in Jesus Christ they will know the forgiveness of their sins and the new life of the Spirit..."

One long hour later, the reverend finally dismissed them and all the Stokes' started making their way to the front to give their blessing to Jimmy-Ray who was now complaining he wanted to go outside and play as he was still bored.

"Hi, your Nick's partner aren't you?" Nick's uncle Eldon asked the young man sat by himself.

"Yeah, Greg Sanders." He introduced himself, politely shaking Nick's uncle Eldon's hand.

"I'm Eldon Stokes and this is my partner Gerald White." He introduced the floppy haired man behind him. "I heard you're visiting from Vegas, did you bring your little girl? My niece Gwen has been braggin' how adorable she is."

Greg beamed a wide smile at him, actually feeling liked by a Stokes for the first time all day. "Yeah we did, she's with her grandma." Greg pointed towards Jillian Stokes who was still proudly parading her sleeping granddaughter around.

"Geri look." Eldon elbowed his partner to get his attention. "That's little Danielle." He indicated towards her, making sure Gerald was looking at the right child before he turned back to Greg. "You and Nick are so lucky to have one of your own. We've been trying to adopt for two years now. Our last surrogate backed out a couple of months ago..."

"He doesn't need to know all this." Gerald interrupted him, giving his partner a scowl. "Can we go now?" He indicated towards the watch on his wrist. "You said we only had to stay for the service."

"Yes I know." He groaned at his rude partner. "Nice to meet you Greg, take care." Grabbing hold of his partner's wrist, the older man tugged him off towards the door, moaning, "Why do you always have to do that when I'm talkin' to someone? No wonder none of my family ever wants to spend any time with you."

"They never want to spend time with me because I'm your boyfriend." Geri corrected him, stropily following after his partner out the door.

Greg gave out a soft chuckle as he watched the squabbling couple making their way off towards their car in the distance. "Hi Greg." Gwen suddenly startled him, immediately going in for a hug with him. "How are you doing?" She asked as she pulled back from him.

"Okay." He nodded to her, directing a small smile in her direction as he waited for Nick to finish his god father part with Jimmy-Ray so they could leave.

Shaking the reverend's hand again, Nick smiled at his sister Kayla then lifted Danielle from his mother's arms, talking to her a moment before he joined Greg at the door. "Hey, you ready to go onto the party? We just need to pick up some stuff for Kayla on the way."

"Okay." Nodding his head, Greg turned for the door, stuffing his hands deep into his pockets as he head off towards the rental car in the lot. Pulling back the sleeve of his suit jacket, Greg noticed that the inflamed area on his wrist had disappeared, leaving just a sore red patch where he had been itching at it the whole time.

Nick unlocked the door for him, watching Greg weakly dropping into the passenger seat. He knew Greg hadn't been the same since the lab explosion, but he was still really worried about him as he had never seen him this glum before. "Hey hun, we could just run the stuff over then head home if you want. We can change our flight so we get back earlier..."

"No, I'm okay." Greg assured him, turning his head as he watched Nick carefully strapping Danielle into her seat. Danielle softly stirred in the chair a moment, quietly readjusted herself then fell right to sleep again as Nick pushed the last clip together. "How are you related to Eldon?" He suddenly asked him.

"Uncle Eldon? He's my Cousin Raymond's father. You met Raymond at the Christmas party last year." He reminded him then rushed around the car to climb into the driver's seat. "Eldon's my father's little brother, but we're not allowed to call him that since he's..."

"Oh." Greg nodded as he untucked his t-shirt from his black jeans to get comfier in his seat. "Where's Eldon's wife then?"

"Karen? She died eight years ago." Strapping himself in, Nick started the car then reversed out of his spot, being careful of the wandering people in the parking lot. "Eldon's been with Geri for four years now. Why'd you ask?"

"Just curious." The younger man shrugged, leaning further back in his seat. "Nicky, when we get married. I don't wonna do it the traditional Stokes way. No churches or anything, just you and me and the exchanging of our rings." He informed him.

Nick looked around at him curiously, wondering if anyone had upset him back at the church, "Umm... okay, Greg. As long as you're sure, hun."

"Positive. I definitely don't want a religious ceremony for our wedding. It should be about our love, not about all this stupid rules and repeating words and submitting to Christ. Apparently he rejects us anyway, so why bother?"

"Okay Greg, whatever you want, baby." He assured him, reaching out for his hand across the middle of the car again. Nick laced his fingers tightly with Greg's, as the younger man stared out the window with the same lost boy look that had been written across his once cheerful expression since the lab explosion. He wished that there was something he could say or do to make him feel better, but there wasn't anything that could make him feel better as he had lost a baby that he was never going to meet or watch grow up like he could with Danielle.

Nick picked up the extra party food for Kayla then drove over to her house to help her set up while the rest of the guests arrived. Greg found himself an isolated spot in the garden, taking a seat on the tree swing overlooking the garden. He watched Kayla's two little boys Jimmy-Ray and John-Paul running around together, wondering what it would have been like to have a boy himself with Nick.

"Hey, I gotcha all your favourites." Nick dropped onto the swing beside him, handing him a plate of the different little party snacks. Greg gave him a slight smile as he looked round at him. "You not hungry baby?"

Looking down at the food on the plate, Greg shook his head as he really couldn't stomach any food right now. "Did you check if Danielle was hungry?"

"Yeah, she's already helped herself to the mini pizzas and fruit sticks. I told yah not to dress her in white today; she's been eatin' the strawberries." He smirked, watching a slight smile spreading across Greg's lips. Following Greg's line of sight, Nick watched John-Paul blowing bubbles from the small tube in his hands that Jimmy-Ray was jumping up to catch as he giggled sweetly. "You thinkin' about our little boy, G?" He queried.

"Would I be a whimp if I said yes?" Greg asked as he looked round at him. Nick shook his head to him. "Then yes. I was just... wondering, what he'd be like." The younger man confessed.

"That's only natural, hun." He assured him, gently tapping his thigh beside him. "You know maybe, we should go back to the doctors G."

Greg shook his head in protest, wondering why Nick and his mother were always suggesting he go back to the doctor. He couldn't do anything for him now, the baby was already gone.

"No Nicky, he'll only put me on medication. I don't want that." Sliding closer towards the warm hearted Texan on the bench, Greg laced his fingers together with Nick's, clutching his hand tightly. "I don't need a doctor. I've had enough doctors to last me a lifetime. I just need you. I'm fine Nicky." He assured him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "I'll be the same ole Greg before you know it."

Nick pressed a gentle kiss to the side of his head as they both watched seven year old John-Paul blowing some more bubbles for his baby brother Jimmy-Ray to pop. His little sister, four year old Maria-Rose soon joined them, jumping up and down to try and catch as many as she could, making her curly little pig tails bounce up and down on her shoulders.

Maria-Rose looked just like her mother Kayla while her two brothers looked just like their father Marcus. The longer Greg stared at them though, the more he started to wonder who his little boy would look more like, Nick or him.

"Oh... and according to Gwen... we have a twenty five percent chance of getting pregnant every time we have sex without protection." Greg suddenly pointed out to Nick as he turned his head away from the children.

Nick smiled as he watched Greg's lips spreading into a cheeky smile. "I'm really sorry she told you that, but I'm happy to see you smilin' again. As soon as we get back home we can start tryin' again."

"Sounds good to me." Greg reached for one of the mini pizzas on his plate, taking a bite as he leant back against Nick's shoulder. "You don't have to treat me to dinner or anything, but you can rent a movie to occupy my time keeping my legs up." He teased, hearing Nick's soft laughter against his head.

"There's my Greggo." The older man whispered against his ear before he kissed his soft head of hair. "Hey look see, I told you they'd go eventually." Nick noticed Greg's spotless arms as he pulled back the sleeve of his suit jacket. "Do they still itch?"

Greg shook his head. "I can't really feel them anymore. The ones on my legs were itching like crazy in the church."

"Maybe you're allergic to religion?" Nick chuckled softly as he wrapped his arms around his younger lover.

The two of them turned their heads towards Jimmy-Ray and John-Paul as Danielle joined them. Greg smiled softly as he saw that her little white dress had sticky red strawberry stains down the front. Her short pigtails of brown hair bounced as she jumped up to catch the bubbles that John-Paul was still blowing.

"Hey Nicky, I love you." He whispered as he turned to face him. "I'm sorry for everything I've put you through."

"You're worth it." Nick assured him. "We've got our beautiful little girl, and we've got our whole lives to be together to have another baby. I'm not sayin' that I don't miss the little boy we never got to have. Seein' Jimmy-Ray today reminded me that we wouldn't get to watch him grow up, but we've still got Danielle, and each other. I think we're still pretty lucky."

"Dada." Danielle suddenly called out to them as she came running over.

Nick swept her up into his arms as she reached his legs, sitting her down against his chest as he smiled round at Greg who realised that they were still very lucky to have what they had, and despite their loss, they could still find happiness with each other.

"More than pretty lucky, Tex." Greg smiled up at him as he looked at Danielle in his arms.

"Nicky!" His mother suddenly called out to him from the house, smiling as she spotted him in the garden. "Come in here sweetheart, it's picture time!" She ushered him inside before she hurried off to gather her grandchildren.

Nick reluctantly climbed to his feet, lifting Danielle up with him. Nick watched his mother gathering his sister's husbands then looked round at Greg who remained seated as Jillian never wanted him in any of the family pictures. "C'mon G."

"It's okay Nicky; I'm used to being ushered out of the pictures by now."

"Well then we'll tell her to get rid of my sister's husbands if she doesn't want you in the shot. C'mon." Nick insisted, reaching his free hand out to him to pull him to his feet. "I'm glad she's accepted me for bein' with you, but she has to learn to accept you too. You're not goin' anywhere, and she can't cut you out of the pictures forever."

"Your mother can." Greg smirked as he reluctantly followed Nick into the house.

While Jillian was setting up the camera in front, she glanced up surprised as she saw her son leading his boyfriend into the front room. She looked at the two of them wide eyed, anxiously biting her lower lip as she couldn't think of polite way to make him leave with everyone else in the room.

Just as she was about to call her son out of the picture for a quiet word, her daughter Gwen called Greg over to her, sitting him down on the sofa beside her with Danielle in his arms. She couldn't very well cut him out of the picture now, so she gave in and set the timer on her camera.

"Okay everyone, big smiles. Ten seconds!" She shouted as she hurried around the furniture to stand at the back between her two sons, noticing her youngest son had draped his hand over Greg's shoulder. As she looked back up at the camera in front of them, she found herself trying to force a smile as she feared the fate of her youngest if he continued on this path into damnation.

* * *

Nick and Greg left half way through the party, heading off back to Nick's mothers house to get ready to leave in the morning. Greg for one was very glad to be going home. Two whole nights without Nick in bed with him was just unfair.

"Don't fall asleep." Nick warned Greg as he was lying on his bed, watching the movie across the room with Danielle at his side. "You know my Mama won't like it if she knows you slept in here."

"Next time she's at our house she can sleep in the shed then." Greg cheekily grinned as Nick gave him a shocked look. "Of course I was kidding. I'll just give her itchy sheets, the same as she did with me."

"I don't think she did, because I was in those sheets too." Nick pointed out to him. "And I know she's hard to get along with, but she does like you. She's told me so herself."

"Not to my face. My mother expresses how much she loves you in public, over dinner and across the phone. You want me to ring her to prove it?" Whipping out his cell phone, Greg went to hit her speed dial, but Nick stopped him with a chuckle.

"You don't have to prove anythin' to me hun; I know your mom is so much cooler about us than mine. And as much as it pains me to admit this, I prefer spendin' time with your mother then I do my own because I feel responsible for her separation and let's face it, I'm pretty much the reason she's livin' out here on her own instead of the house she bought with her husband and raised seven children in."

"They woulda broken up eventually anyway. Your mother said how miserable she was with him, they woulda just both stayed in the marriage until it killed them. Like you and thingy." Greg pointed out to him.

"Well me and... thingy, never loved each other in the first place." Nick reminded him as he circled his arms around him. "My parents did."

"Love fades." Greg mumbled. "On some level you must have liked Tanya to want to stay with her as long as you did. Maybe after the baby, your love for her faded... like it has with me."

"My love for you hasn't changed at all." Nick protested, feeling hurt by Greg's words. "Our relationship is completely different from what Tanya and I ever had. I love you and I want to be with you."

"We haven't really been clicking lately though. Maybe we'll end up exactly how you and Tanya turned out. We'll slowly start hating each other a little more each day until we just can't take it anymore."

"That's not happenin' though." Nick complained, spotting his daughter looking up at the two of them wide eyed as they were starting to argue. Nick looked down at her innocent little eyes then softened his tone as he looked towards Greg, "Baby, I love you more than anythin' in the world. Losin' a baby doesn't have to be the end of us. With Tanya and I, the baby was the only thing we had to hold us together. With you and me, we've got Danielle, each other and our life's. I'm so sick of tryin' to explain myself to you, it's like you want me to hurt you so you can just get it over with and leave me."

"Well stop acting like there's something better waiting for you just on the other side of the hill." Greg moaned at him. "When your mother asked why we cancelled the wedding date, you didn't tell her that it was because I was in physical therapy; you said it was because we needed to revaluate things. What the hell do you need to revaluate? Do you wonna marry me or not?"

"Right now... no."

Sitting up straight, Greg's jaw dropped as he looked round at his fiancé that proposed to him two years ago. "Why?"

"Because you're actin' crazy and you think I don't love you just because you lost a baby." Nick explained himself. "I've sacrificed so much for you. Even my parents broke up because of us..."

"Are you seriously trying to direct our problems over to your guilt for your parents breaking up, again?"

"Why not? We've been arguin' about your guilt for the past four months." Nick snapped, slapping himself in the head as he really didn't know why he was trying to argue with him about this, it was nice just to be able to communicate with the man he loved who had been ghosting through his existence lately. "I really didn't mean that Greg."

"I don't care." Clicking off the TV, Greg scrambled to his feet off the bed, pulling out of Nick's reach as he went to stop him.

"Baby, where are you goin'?"

"To my room." Slamming the door shut behind him, Greg marched off down the stairs, heading straight for the den. He didn't even bother to unfold the bed this time; he just crashed straight onto the couch, clutching a pillow tightly to his stomach.

Nick snuggled closer to Danielle on his bed, looking down into her bright big eyes. "See, this is why we don't come to Texas more often." He whispered to her. "Everythin's bigger here, even our arguments."

* * *

**There it is, I hope you enjoyed it. Don't worry, it's not over yet. Nick will eventually stop siding with his mother, he's just afraid to loose her support like he lost his father's.**

**Thanks so much for reading. Please Review!**

**Have a great weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	6. Chapter 6: Delicious Love

**Sorry for the wait on this chapter, I've been really busy. I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Delicious Love**

After taking an early morning shower, Nick headed off down the stairs, finding his mother in the kitchen cooking them all some breakfast, but he couldn't see Greg or Danielle anywhere in the room. His mother continued cooking away, humming softly to herself, just like she always did when he was a child, reminding him of happier times. "Hey Mama, where's Greg and Danielle?" He curiously asked her.

"Oh... well Greg's gone out for a walk and Danielle's through there." Jillian pointed into the front room where Danielle was sat in the play pen, smacking the toy hammer in her hands against the keys of the piano that made animal noises when she hit the keys. "She loves that thing. I think Gwen left it behind the last time she was here." Wiping her hands down her apron, Jillian made her way off into front room, lifting her grandchild into her arms. "You wonna see your, Daddy?" She whispered to the child as she carried her off towards her son. "You know she's very small for a two year old, sweetheart."

Nick rolled his eyes at her as he took her off her hands, "She's the same size as the other babies her age in day care." He informed her.

"But she's a Stokes baby." Jillian pointed out to him as she got back to work on making breakfast. "She's the smallest Stokes baby I've ever seen and I've..."

"Can you please just stop findin' things wrong with her and accept her the way she is?" He suddenly snapped, surprising his mother by his outburst. "We came here, because you wanted us here and you're treatin' my family like shit."

"Nicholas, not in front of the baby." She scolded him.

"How do you think she feels when people keep pushin' her father who loves her more than anythin' out of the way as if he's nothin'? You can't keep treatin' Greg like this. The only reason we come here is for you, but you just keep pushin'."

"Just because you're havin' problems with Greg, doesn't mean you can go off on me."

"I'm not havin' problems with Greg!" He complained in frustration. "I'm havin' problems protectin' his feelin's from my own mother. So can you at least try to be nice, or this'll be the last time you ever see either one of us again." He threatened her in a calmer tone of voice. "Got it?"

Jillian gave her son a slight nod. "Okay, I'll try sweetheart, but he's very hard to get along with."

"If you tried, you'd know how easy it is to get along with him." Nick carefully set Danielle down in her play pen again then turned back towards his mother. "So where's Greg?"

"Um... I think Greg went out early this mornin'. I'm sure he'll be back soon." She assured him. "Breakfast will be ready soon, sweetheart."

"Okay." Nick grabbed one of his jackets from the hanger by the front door then hurried out the door without saying another word to his mother. Jillian watched the door close behind him then turned back to her cooking, wondering where he was going.

Nick made his way down the driveway towards the rental car, heading straight round the other side where Greg was sat on the brick wall lining the driveway. "Honey, whatcha doin'?" Nick queried as he knelt down beside him. He didn't appear to be hurt or anything, but he was being too quiet for the regular Greg personality.

Gently tapping Greg's knee to get his attention, Nick asked, "Hey, where'd you go, hun?"

"Oh... just for a walk. Some doctors recommend it you know. I just needed to clear my head."

Nick smiled up at him, then straightened up and took a seat on the wall beside him. "So, did you clear your head, baby?" Greg gave him a slight shrug. "You know I didn't mean anythin' I said..."

"Oh I know that." Greg interrupted him. "We only ever fight when there's a mother in law within the household." He pointed out to him then turned his head to look Nick in the eye. "I really couldn't bare it if you ever hated me, Nick."

"I don't hate you. I could never hate you." Nick gently pressed his lips to Greg's as he caressed his thumb down the side of his soft cheek. "Baby, you know I love you... more than anythin' in the world. You _are_ my world." He whispered as he reached for Greg's hand to brush his thumb over the ring he was still wearing. "I want to marry you, that's why I asked you. I wasn't forced into anythin'... and I'm not just with you for our baby. I love you, Greg Sanders." He assured him as he pressed a kiss to the ring on his finger. "I wish that there was more I could say or do to make it better . . . but I'm completely clueless in this department, Greg. If you want me to cry for you to show how much I care, I will."

"You don't have to do anything that dramatic, big guy." He snickered softly then turned to wrap his arms around Nick's neck in front of him, clutching him tightly. "I love you too, Nick." He whispered, breathing in the soft scents of his lover's hair as he secured his body in his embrace against him. "And I'm sorry."

"We've both been wound pretty tight lately G, it was bound to happen eventually." Nick whispered back as he gently smoothed his palms up and down his lover's back. "C'mon, my Mama's got breakfast on the stove then we can pack up and leave. She'll wonna say goodbye before we leave too."

"Are you sure that's what she wants to say to me?" Greg smirked against his neck then finally pulled back to savour a kiss from his lover's lips. "Don't worry; I'll tolerate her just for you, Nicky." Greg assured him.

"Thank you." Nick gently tugged Greg to his feet, leading him off into the house by his hand, much to the disapproval of his mother as she saw the two of them entering together.

Jillian was just setting up the table, after she had set down her grandchild in one of the highchairs with her own breakfast in front of her.

"Thanks, Mama." Nick beamed a wide smile at his mother as he dropped down into his seat, moving Greg's plate over so he could sit beside him instead of opposite him like his mother had planned.

"Thank you, Jillian." Greg responded, pecking a kiss to his little girl's head before he dropped into the seat beside Nick. Danielle waved her sticky hand towards him before she reached for another handful of scrambled eggs with her hand, eating the small bacon pieces with her fork as she still hadn't got used to using just utensils instead of her hands.

"Oh and Mama, we've decided to reschedule our weddin'." Nick announced to her, startling both his mother and Greg just as they had almost finished their breakfast. "We'll let you know as soon as we pick a date." Nick directed a smile towards her, as he weaved his fingers together with Greg's beneath the table.

Jillian looked between the two of them then turned her attention towards the garbling baby at the end of the table. "Are you sure about this? There's no turnin' back once everyone knows." She openly showed her dislike of his relationship again. "I knew you were never goin' to be like your father or your big brother Chuck, but this is..."

"Mama, please. Not in front of..."

"No, it's okay. You can talk." Greg climbed to his feet and lifted Danielle from her highchair to go and clean her up in her room upstairs, leaving them to talk.

Jillian watched the young man walking away before she turned her attention towards her son. "I always knew you were never goin' to be like your brother Chuck, sweetheart. But why this? Why would you want..."

"Because I love him, Mama. I didn't choose this. I just... I fell in love with him."

"He destroyed your marriage."

"Is that what you really think?" Nick struggled not to laugh. "I hated Tanya. Last time I checked she was the one sleepin' with other men in our bed. She never loved me."

"You don't know that, she married you didn't she?"

"Dad forced us to after she told you guys that I knocked her up. I never liked her. I've always loved Greg; he's the love of my life."

"Honey, you had an affair with him." Jillian sighed softly as she shook her head. "How can you love someone who destroyed your marriage? You could have been havin' children in a lovin' family home, instead of this..."

"Mama, you never listen to me!" He interrupted her. "Do you really want me to be with Tanya, just so she can sleep around behind my back in our bed, use me as her own personal babysitter for kids who hate me..."

"Honey, please don't shout at me."

"Well you're not listenin' to me." He complained. "You never do. You only hear what you wonna hear. I love Greg, why can't you see that? He makes me happy. I don't care that he's a guy; I love him as a person. His body is just a bonus. Mama, it's like we're two halves of the same person. Without him . . . I don't feel complete. It's too late to turn back now; I _already_ can't live without him."

"Not everythin' that makes you happy is good for you, sweetheart."

Nick rolled his eyes at her in frustration, as she still wasn't listening to him. "I don't care what you say about him, you don't know him. You haven't even given him the chance."

"Greg may be a nice boy, but he's an adulterous. He slept with you while you were a married man. Who says he's not goin' to do the same while he's with you? He trapped you with this baby, and now you're plannin' on marryin' him? Honey, you're a lot smarter than this. Tanya was so much better..."

"You don't know everythin' that went down with her." Nick cut her off, deciding to finally defend himself and Greg against her. "Tanya cheated on me. She cheated on her husband before me... and we never loved each other. She trapped me with her promise of a baby. She never actually liked me for me. I fell in love with Greg before I even knew it myself. I've always known Greg from work; we practically started datin' nearly a year before Danielle was even born. I love Greg. I never thought that I'd ever fall for the same sex, but I fell for Greg, and I don't care that he's a man."

"Honey, you can't..."

"I love him, Mama. I can't just push him out of my life because you believe that I'm goin' to hell. I love Greg more than anythin'; I'd die for him if I had to." He admitted to her. "I'm sorry about what happened between you and Dad..."

"Oh honey, that wasn't your fault." She shook her head, rushing to reach out for his hand across the table. "We had been arguin' constantly months, years even before that. You just gave me a reason to finally leave him, we're better off without each other now."

"And I'm better off with Greg." He defended himself, before he started to explain in a softer tone, "I don't care what sex Greg is, I love him for who he is, and if that makes me gay... then I really don't care, because he's shown more love to me than anyone in my life. Mama, you know I love you, but I'm spendin' the rest of my life with Greg. He's the one I want. And if you can't accept that... then we can't be around you, because I can't have you hurtin' him. He means the world to me."

Greg grinned widely from his hiding position then skipped off up the stairs with his little girl in his arms. "Don't tell daddy." He winked at her then head into her room to start packing her things up so they could catch their flight home, something he was definitely looking forward to.

* * *

"Okay, we're all set." Nick announced as he closed up the boot of the rental car after loading their bags into the back. He turned around to check where Danielle had gone, noticing her half way up the drive, following his mother's cat Jasmine around the raised flower bed.

Jasmine was a dark tabby cat that wasn't too good with kids as she hated having her tail pulled constantly by the grandchildren that were constantly round her house, but she didn't mind Danielle as she obeyed her father's simple rule of 'look but don't touch.'

Within a few minutes Greg finally emerged from the house, brushing his fingers through his hair as he made his way over to the car.

Jillian bit her tongue as he stepped out of the house, deciding not to say another word. She looked towards her son, fearing she was going to lose him if she didn't at least try to be civil around the man he was planning on spending the rest of his life with.

"Have a safe flight; call me as soon as you land." She called out to her son in a shaky tone, still worrying she'd never see him again after this visit.

"We will." Nick assured her as he watched Greg kneeling down beside Danielle and Jasmine. The cat seemed much friendlier towards Greg. She pushed her head towards his hand to allow him to stroke her while Danielle watched. "Hey Greg, you ready to go, hun?" Nick tapped his watch to signal that they were going to be late for their flight if they hung around any longer.

"Yep... c'mon, baby." Lifting his daughter into his arms, Greg carried her off towards the car to strap her into her seat, trying not to smile too widely as he saw the look on Nick's mothers face.

Nick quickly hugged and kissed his mother then climbed into the driver's seat, waiting for Greg to finish strapping in Danielle and climb in himself before he started the car. "Bye!" Jillian shouted, smiling as all three of them waved to her as Nick slowly backed the car out of the driveway. "Have a safe trip. I love you!"

Nick waved one last time out of the window then drove the car off towards the airport, while Greg fiddled with the stereo to change it to something he liked during the drive. "Hey, did you check with the flight to make sure..."

"Yep." Nick interrupted Greg, knowing what he was going to ask before he finished speaking. "I triple checked. I kept her up a little longer last night so she should take her early nap durin' the flight. I've got the carryon bag ready. And I even got her ticket sixty percent off."

"I love you." Greg giggled as he looked round at him.

"I love you too, baby." Nick smiled back at him then checked on Danielle in the rear view mirror before he continued off towards the airport, glad to finally be taking his family home. "Before we head home when we get back, we need to do some shoppin', Greg."

"Okay." Greg agreed. "You're not back to work until Wednesday, right?" Nick nodded to him. "So we have two whole days alone together?"

"You, me and Danielle, yeah." Raising his eyebrows slightly as he looked round at the younger man beside him, Nick realised what he meant, allowing a wide smile to spread across his lips. "Oh... really, baby?" Nick glanced at Danielle then looked towards Greg as he stopped at the next junction. "You know we haven't had real . . . S – E – X since before the lab... thing." He spelled out.

"I know. Which is exactly why we should have more S – E – X," Greg respelled out with a giggle. "You know I really miss being with you. I've never felt more connected to someone other than you. And we wonna try for another baby don't we? We have to get back into the routine."

"Okay." Nick nodded in agreement then turned off towards the airport. "Then we'll need to make a pit stop for some candles and things too."

Grinning widely, Greg waited until Nick pulled into a parking spot then tugged his seatbelt off to lean across the centre of the car and press a kiss to his lips. "I love it when you go all out."

"You're totally worth it, baby." Nick winked at him, then pressed a kiss back to his lips before he climbed out the car to retrieve their luggage. Greg climbed out after him then headed straight for the back to lift Danielle free from her seat.

They checked in, boarded their plane then they were well on their way back to Las Vegas and Danielle was already asleep.

* * *

"Honey!" Jean Sanders called through the house the next day, spotting the luggage bags still in the hallway from their trip to Texas and the laundry basket was overflowing with unwashed clothes. "Sweetheart?" Heading off into the front room, Jean widened her eyes as she looked at her miserable son sat on the sofa, holding a melting chocolate bar in one hand and a tall glass of clear liquid in the other. "Baby, you shouldn't be drinking this time of day." She scolded him. "And definitely not with chocolate, you know that always makes you sick."

"Its water." He smiled over at her. "Never thought you'd see the day huh?"

"You drinking water? No." She admitted, making her way into the room. "What's going on?"

"I live with a health freak. There's no alcohol, no juice, stale milk, but there is always water." Greg answered her, dumping the sticky chocolate bar onto the coffee table. "And the chocolate bar is for my depression."

"Depression? What's the matter, honey?" Jean quickly checked on Danielle in her play pen before she stepped around the coffee table, taking a seat beside Greg. "C'mon honey, you can tell me anything."

"It's nothing."

"Tell me now." She demanded to know what was going on with him.

"Well... Nick and I... we sorta had another fight."

"Well, give me the details." His persistent mother insisted.

"Okay. In Texas, we were talking about Nick's parents and how they split up. He was feeling guilty because he thought it was his fault again then I said something to him, and then it started up this whole argument and I just walked out." Greg explained, watching his mother's eyes slowly widening. "No, no... I walked out of the room, not out of Nick's life for good. Just out the room." He quickly corrected. "But then... Nick sorta stood up for me in front of his mother for like the first time in his whole life, but now he's talking about never ever seeing her again, and it's all my fault."

"He said that?" Jean gasped.

"No... but I think it. Hence the depression. Nick never said it was my fault... well the first time he did, but that was in the heat of the argument. But now I'm really worried, because I broke up their family. And I know he won't say it out loud unless we're arguing, but I think he blames me for it. I blame me."

"Oh... Gregory," Jean shook her head at him as she placed her hand over her heart, feeling it aching for her son's pain. "Honey, you think too much. Nicky thinks the world of you. And if his mother is still so close minded that she still can't accept her son, then she deserves the silent treatment from her son for a while. The way she treats you isn't fair, and it's about time Nick stood up for you."

"I just feel like this huge burden on his life though. I trapped him with a baby, broke up his parents and ruined his relationship with his mother."

"Nicky has never felt as though you've trapped him, sweetheart." Jean assured him. "I've seen him with Danielle, he loves her. You've given that man everything he ever wanted, honey. You do love him doncha?"

"Yes I love him. I love him more than anything in the world."

"There you go then, I see no problem here." Jean gave him a smile then looked towards the play pen as she heard some garbling baby sounds.

"But he hates me." Greg suddenly complained. "I know he does. And don't say he doesn't and come up with all this Mom logic. I think I know him better than you. I said to him 'are we seriously having an argument over your guilt over your parents' and then he said to me, 'well why not, we've been arguing over your guilt for the past four months." He explained in more detail then placed his hands on his stomach. "He hates me. And he blames me. I lost his baby."

"Oh honey, he doesn't hate you." She assured him. "You've had arguments before; you know people don't think clearly when they're shouting about hurt feelings like that. He didn't mean it. He loves you, honey. He's given up so much just so he could be with you, and he's stuck by you through your miscarriage and the lab accident. If you two are gonna blame anyone, you should really be blaming that Catherine woman."

"Don't bring that up again." Greg rolled his eyes at her before he leant back against the pillows behind him.

"I'm only saying that she _was_ the one who caused it after all. You were just an innocent victim, and Nick's been worried sick about you for months."

"Don't tell Nicky I said this," Turning his head to look his mother in the eye, Greg spoke in a soft voice so that Danielle wouldn't hear him. "But I'm kinda glad it was this baby, and not that one." He indicated towards Danielle. "She was in the lab right before it went off, but you and Dad came to take her away. I don't know if I'd be able to live anymore if she was still there and she..."

"Oh honey," Reaching out for her son, Jean pulled him into her arms, clutching him tightly.

"And, if I had just listened to Nicky in the morning, Danielle and I would have both been at home the day of the explosion and I'd still have both of my babies." Greg whispered as his mother held him tightly.

"You can have another baby sweetheart, I don't mean to sound senseless, but I know how you feel after the loss of a baby that was growing inside of you. I lost three after I had you, so eventually I gave up. I figured I wasn't allowed to have another baby, but I regretted the decision to stop trying for the rest of my life. I always wanted another baby but I ran out of time."

"You know that sixty year olds can still have babies." Greg pointed out to her through a soft smile as he wiped away his tears. "You're only forty six, Mom."

Jean smiled at her son then pecked a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you honey, but I'm too old to have another baby. I've already got a grandchild and I'm looking to retire soon. And how would you feel having a little brother or sister twenty eight years younger than you?"

Greg thought about it a moment then shrugged to her. "I guess I wouldn't mind. I want you to be happy too, Mom." Greg smiled to her. "You know Nick's brother Chuck is only two years younger than you and he just had _another_ set of twins with his wife. Nick's mother Jillian was twenty years old when _you_ were born. That means by the time Nick was born, when she had all seven of her children, you were still _only_ fourteen years old." He added, trying to cheer her up.

"Oh you are a good son. Thank you for trying to make me feel younger, sweetheart." She chuckled, smugly grinning as she realised she was much younger than her son's mother in law. "But there's lots of complications with having a baby at my age. I shoulda had more babies when I was your age."

"Nick and I did talk about having another baby. He was really excited about it. Then we had that stupid argument." Folding his arms across his chest, Greg wondered if Nick was going to come straight home after work to be with him or head straight off to a bar with Warrick.

"Are you trying for another baby then?" She queried, brushing down the crumbs off the sofa beside her.

Greg gave her a slight nod. "But since I can't exactly time my menstrual cycle, both Nick and the doctor recon it's gonna take some time."

"Well you need to get out of this depressed state you're in. This isn't going to be healthy for you or the baby you're planning on having, sweetheart. And don't worry about this fight between you and Nick, fighting couples value their marriages more than those who walk away."

"We're not married." Greg reminded her. "It got put on hold again."

"Well neither of you walked away, I'd say that's a pretty good sign that you still want to be together. Losing a baby is never easy, honey. Me and your father had plenty of arguments and there was one time I thought that we were actually done for good, but we held on because we wanted to stay together and we wanted it all to work out. You and Nick are like that. If you're both prepared to fight for one another, then you are meant to be together." Jean assured him then pressed a kiss to his forehead. "And if you don't mind, I think I'll take Danielle for the evening so you and Nicky can fight out your differences and get started on planning a new baby." She winked at him, then climbed to her feet to go and pack some overnight things for Danielle before she came back into the room to get her granddaughter.

"Are you sure, Mom?" Lifting his daughter from the play pen, Greg brushed his little girl's fringe aside, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "She sleeps right through the night now, but for some reason she's got into the habit of waking up really early with a pillow of tears, stomping her little, little feet until we finally pick her up."

"She's going through that phase again, huh?" She chuckled, lifting her grandchild from his arms. "I'm sure I can handle a little temper tantrum in the morning. I used to have to drag your lazy arse out of bed every morning," She reminded him. "Not that I didn't love every moment we spent together sweetheart, I just wish that you were more of a joy to be around in the mornings."

"Nobody likes waking up for school." Greg giggled. "Especially not to their mother shouting, 'Gregory Hojem Sanders, you get out of that bed right now'." He impersonated her with his hands on his hips.

"You monster." Jean slapped him upside the head, making him giggle as he could still annoy her. Jean rolled her eyes at her son then looked at her grandchild in her arms. "Alright then, say goodbye to your monster of a father, little one."

Greg scowled at his mother then lifted Danielle into his arms again, giving her a warm hug. "I love you, be good... for your granddad anyway. I know you're out of your spitting up on people phase, but you can spit up on Nana Jean all you like." He whispered to her, snickering as his mother glared back at him. "Goodbye, baby."

"Buh bye, Dada." Danielle spoke in a soft whisper.

"Aw, you know, you were much more of a talker then her." Jean lifted Danielle from his arms, resting the small child against her side. "She must get that from Nick; he barely says anything but manners when he comes over for dinner."

"Because _you_ don't let him get a word in edgeways." Greg teased her as he led her off towards the front door. "Thanks for doing this, Mom. I'll pick her up tomorrow morning. Oh and no pacifiers, Nick's trying to wean her off them."

"I never stopped using pacifiers with you until you were in playgroup. You made the decision for yourself." Jean rolled her eyes.

"Nick thinks they're unhealthy." Greg smiled at his mother. "And you get us for both Christmas and Thanksgiving, so don't complain." He warned her.

"Fine, fine, fine." She groaned. "Not too early tomorrow, sweetheart. I expect that the two of you will need a long lie in after all the S – E – X you'll be having." She chortled, making her son blush. "Goodbye honey, have fun." She waved, finally making her way off down the drive to leave Greg to clean up the house, ready for his fiancés return.

* * *

A few hours later, Nick came home from work a few minutes later than usual because he stayed behind to talk to Catherine. Dropping his keys to the side table beside the door, Nick noticed that the toys were all neatly cleared away and the kitchen was sparkling. The television and everything were turned off and there was no sign of Greg anywhere in the front room, the usual place that he found the young man on his return home.

Heading off towards their bedroom without tripping over a single toy, Nick gently pushed the door open, looking in at Greg lying across the middle of the bed on his stomach. He was wearing a white t-shirt and boxers, and his spikes of hair were cutely messed up on the side he was laying.

Nick gently eased himself onto the bed, affectionately brushing his fingertips through his partner's soft hair. Leaning down to Greg's level, Nick tenderly touched his lips to Greg's head, watching the younger man softly beginning to stir. "Hey hun," Watching Greg fluttering his eyes open as he sleepily turned his head to look up at him, Nick smiled down at him in awe, "Hey there sleepin' beauty, I don't know if you changed your mind, but I got," Reaching into his jacket pocket, Nick pulled out a DVD case, showing it to Greg. "You still wanted to watch a movie didn't you?"

"Yeah but... Forty year old virgin?" Greg read off the case then cocked an eyebrow as he looked up at Nick.

"Sorry, I forgot to ask what you wanted, and I've never been on a movie date with anyone before, so I don't exactly know what's appropriate." He defended himself through a smile. "Besides, you told me once before that you like Steve Carell and Paul Rudd movies, as long as their comedies, so I picked this one."

"Thank you." Rolling over onto his side, Greg whispered, "I missed you today. You never leave without saying goodbye, and you said you had the day off."

"I did... I decided to clock in some more hours though as day shift were short staffed." Nick explained to him. "I left you a note."

"I know... but it made me think you were mad at me or something."

"No, I'm not mad at you." Nick assured him, affectionately brushing his fingers through his partner's hair. "I'm mad at me. I should have been supporting you after everythin' you've been through."

"You're completely forgiven." Greg assured him as he slipped his hand into his own. "Can we just forget everything that happened with your mother and Texas, it never seems to agree with us."

"Sure." Nick smiled down at him. "As long as you're not changin' your mind about the baby."

"Nope, I really, really want another baby with you." Greg assured him then rolled over onto his back, tugging his t-shirt up his chest. He smiled as he tossed it aside then removed his boxers, resting his head back against the pillow beneath him. "Oh and, Danielle's at my mothers, so you have me all to yourself." Cheekily grinning up into his fiancés eyes, Greg pulled him closer to ignite a kiss, feeling his body warming already.

"Mmm, are you sure about this, baby?" The Texan whispered as he pulled back. "We can wait if you don't feel ready." He assured him.

"I'm positive." Greg assured him then began to unbutton Nick's shirt from his chest. "You know... I heard what you said to your mother." He whispered as he swept Nick's shirt off his shoulders.

"You did?"

Greg nodded as he leant forwards to capture his lover's lips with his own. "Did you mean it?"

"Every word I can remember." Nick smiled as he moved his hands to Greg's hips. "I don't ever wonna break your heart again, baby. If I lose my Mama by sidin' with you, then that's a risk I'm willin' to take. I'd rather it this way, then the other way around anyway."

Greg smiled back as he wrapped his arms around his partner's shoulders. "I love you, Nicky. More than anything too." He whispered as he moved closer against him. "I'm glad you finally did something Nicky, if you didn't I was gonna slap you upside the head." He giggled.

Nick chuckled with him then pressed a kiss to his lover's lips. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to live my own life without the influence from my parent's... that's why I need you, hun. You're the independent one. Let's face it... I'm a child in a man's body without you."

"Let's just forget all about it and start over." Holding the one he loved tightly in his arms, Greg whispered, "I just want to feel close to you again. I've missed you." Smoothing his hands down Nick's chest towards his hips, Greg joined their warm, wet lips together while his fingers fumbled with his partner's belt and flies.

"I've missed you too." Nick broke the kiss, feeling his body aching for Greg's touch. "I'm sorry I took you to Texas with me..."

"Shh, it's all forgotten... remember," Greg gently pushed Nick back against the bedding behind him then climbed off him to strip him of the rest of his clothing. Kissing a warm trail from Nick's neck to his navel, Greg smiled as he made his partner squirm beneath him within a matter of seconds of touching him. "I just want you, Nick."

Taking over the lead as requested, Nick rolled their bodies, pinning his partner's heated body beneath him as he took over with slow wet kisses to his lips. Greg pawed his hands through Nick's hair, arching his chest up into his mouth as Nick trailed open mouthed kisses down the centre of his body.

After four months of waiting for his lover to return, Nick really didn't need to be told twice to re-indulge himself in the essence of his lover. Nick gratefully took the begging young man, taking his time to kiss and caress the body that had been severely scarred in the lab explosion. The new skin on Greg's back felt very different to what Nick was used to, giving him a very unique texture. But the scars and thick skin coating his back didn't disgust him, he took his time to kiss each one of them, letting his lover know how much he still loved him after everything he had been through.

Nick continued to shower the beautiful body beneath him in kisses, tormenting his younger lover to the brink of explosion. "Nicky... please..." He begged, arching his chest into his heavenly body.

"Patience baby," Nick rasped against his neck, dispensing soft kisses to his jaw line. "I'll make it worth the wait." Smiling widely as a moan escaped his boyfriend's lips, Nick covered his mouth with another lusty kiss, feeling the younger man's body surrender to him. He kissed Greg as though he wanted to consume him, rolling their bodies again so Greg was on top. They both closed their eyes as their hot moist tongues entwined together in the warm caverns of their mouths, sending them further and further over the edge.

Smoothing his hands around Greg's body, Nick pulled him closer against him, feeling the heavenly warmth of his body against his own. Their hot wet lips lingered against each other as they pulled apart for breath, while they stared deep into one another eyes. "You know Nicky; you really don't have to do all this to get me pregnant." Greg giggled softly, feeling his heart hammering against the surface of his chest.

"No... but I do to prove how much I love you. And you deserve the special treatment." Nick rasped, smoothing his hands across the beautiful body perched on his hips.

Leaving no part of his luscious body unattended, Nick continued to up the heat of his companion before he slid his length into his untouched entry, eliciting a delicious moan from his lips.

Their pleasure soon came to a halt as Greg let out a grateful scream cloaked with pleasure. Within a few minutes Nick had consumed his innocence, filling him with his seed, leaving his body limp and pleasantly numb.

Greg collapsed into his arms, closing his eyes against his partner's sun kissed skin as they panted deep breaths of air together in perfect synchronisation. "I love you." Nick whispered, clutching the warm body on top of him that now lay dormant against his bare flesh, completely consumed with pleasure.

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**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'll try and update again soon. Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing this for me!**

**Thanks for reading, please review!**

**~ Holly**


	7. Chapter 7: Blessing of Children

**Thanks so much for your reviews on the last chapter guys!**

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing this chapter for me :D**

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**Chapter Seven: Blessing of Children**

The tall castle towered over the small child. She gaped up at the colourful sides, patterned with bright red bricks and big green dragons, slowly casting her eyes towards the entrance that opened up to the squishy blue floor. As the noisy generator continued to hum, the castle became taller and the dragons bigger. Freddie's five year old brother crawled through the entrance on his knees, then started jumping up and down as high as he could go, making the whole castle jiggle like a big bowl of jelly.

"Joey!" His mother scolded him, placing her hands on her hips as she stood outside of the entrance. "I told you not to wear your shoes in there." Anne laughed as her five year old son threw his shoes out the doorway towards her then continued bouncing. "Thank you, next time you can come outside and take them off." Anne collected up his sneakers off the floor, neatly placing them on the mat she provided outside of it.

"Give it back!"

"It's mine!"

"It's not!"

"Give it!"

"Boys!" Anne shouted towards the twins. "Stop it, right now!" Their mother struggled to separate the twin thirteen year old boys, grabbing the baseball cap they fighting over for herself. "It's mine now. Get in the house and help your father set up."

"Mom!" Kyle complained, shoving his twin Karl out of the way. "I'm not sticking around for some dumb kiddie party. I've got things to do."

"So do I!" Karl pouted.

"Yeah, of course you do." Anne laughed at them, ushering the two of them off towards the house. "It's your baby brother's birthday party and whether you like it or not, you're sticking around to help out." She informed the both of them. "Danielle, what are you doing over there, sweetheart?" She noticed the neighbour's toddler gaping up at the large castle in front of her.

Danielle pointed up at it, making a soft garbling sound as Anne knelt down beside her.

"They're dragons, sweetheart. There's princesses and princes on the inside. Maybe your Daddy will take you inside later." She suggested to her. "C'mon honey, let's go find your Daddy." Anne reached out for her little hand, slowly walking her up the garden towards the back door. "There's Daddy." She pointed him out as he was putting balloons up in the front room. "Hello Nicky, this little one is fascinated by the dragons on the bouncy castle."

Nick smiled at her then lifted Danielle into his arms, holding her securely against his side. "She's fascinated by anythin' these days. Greg's father has one of those toy train tracks in his office. He just sits her in front of it while he's workin'. Danielle can just watch it for hours on end."

"I know how that is, I used to sit the kids in front of the washing machine while I was trying to do something. They'd be entertained through all the spin washes for hours on end." Anne chuckled softly then ushered her boys into the other room, giving them both jobs to do in preparation for their baby brother's birthday party. "Timmy's here!" She announced, hurrying for the door to answer it. "Hello, Susanne! Hello, Timmy!"

"Hello, Anne." Susanne greeted the loud mother, as she led her son in through the open door. "Wow, the place looks great, Anne." She admired the brightly coloured party decorations from the hallway through to the front room.

"Thank you." Anne smiled round at her. "This is my neighbour, Nicky and his adorable little girl, Danielle." Anne introduced the man in her family room. "Nicky, this is my friend, Susanne. And her little boy, Timmy." She indicated towards the ginger haired little boy picking his nose beside his mother.

"Howdy, Ma'am." The Texan politely greeted her.

"Hello, Nicky." Susanne smiled towards him, raising one eyebrow towards Anne as she looked at the gorgeously handsome man stood in her front room. "Do you have a new boyfriend that I don't know about?" She whispered, not so discreetly as they made their way into the kitchen together.

"No, he's the gay guy I told you about with the cute boyfriend that you were chatting up at day care." Anne chortled, pulling open the fridge to get the food out that she prepared the night before.

"Oh, that's his boyfriend?" Susanne looked over her shoulder, admiring the rippling muscles of his arms as he stuck up another balloon. "And I thought Greg was cute. Damn, why are the good looking guys always gay?"

"Because the straight ones are too afraid to take pride in their appearance for fear of being queer." Anne whispered to her as they both tilted their heads to the side, watching Nick's back side as he knelt down to pick up some more of the colourful streamers off the floor.

"Pity." Susanne murmured.

"What are you looking at?" Anne's slender framed husband, Jason suddenly appeared from the other door, catching the two women staring into the front room.

"Nothing." Anne twirled around, setting down the bowl of jello on the side. "Honey, can you start taking this food through to the dining room. Everyone will be here soon." She requested as she handed him a plate of stacked brownies.

"Sure. Hi, Susanne." He greeted her then carried the plate of brownies off into the dining room.

"Well I should go. My mother in law is coming round to collect the rest of my ex-husband's things. He's too afraid to face me after he married that slut from the office." Susanne covered her mouth as she looked at her son at her side. "I'm sorry honey, Mommy said a bad word."

"Don't worry; Timmy will be fine here with us." Anne assured her as she led her off towards the front door.

"Okay, have fun." Susanne winked at Anne as she glanced towards her hot neighbour one more time. "Damn, no wonder Greg wouldn't go out with me. This sorta makes me feel better though. I had no idea that Greg was gay. I thought he was just being polite when he turned me down. But now I realise he has that gorgeous man to go home with."

Anne giggled, ushering her friend out of the door. "You'll find a man who loves you for who you are one day, honey. Just stay away from the jerks and the cute gay guys and you'll be fine."

"Thanks for the advice." Susanne smiled at her then knelt down beside her son, Timmy. "Have fun with your friend Freddie, sweetheart. Don't forget to wish him happy birthday and don't eat too much." She warned him then pressed a kiss to his forehead, before she made her way off down the drive back towards her car.

"C'mon Timmy, let's go and find Freddie." Anne closed the front door, holding Timmy's hand as she led him through the house towards the garden where Freddie was sat on the patio with some toy robots in his hands, making them battle against one another. "There he is. Freddie, Timmy's here, sweetheart."

"Mommy, Justin and Steven won't let me on the bouncy castle!" Joey complained as he made his way over to her.

"Well tell your brothers to get in the house and help, Daddy. Or else." Anne instructed him then headed back into the house to help Nick with the rest of the decorations, before more of their guests arrived. "So, what are you and Greg planning on doing for this little ones third birthday?" She asked her neighbour as she looked at his daughter.

"Well we'll be with Greg's parents over Christmas, so I'm sure they've already planned something'." Nick smirked as he watched Anne filling the little bowls with chocolate treats. "Are you sure that's a good idea for kids, Anne? You have no idea how many additives are in these things. They make children go crazy."

"Oh I know." Anne laughed softly. "I do have six hyperactive little boys under thirteen, Nicky." She reminded him. "This is like putting liquor out at an adult's party; it makes them happy and keeps them entertained." Smiling round at Nick, Anne filled the last few bowls with some crisps and things then hurried off towards the door as the door bell rang. "Greg!" She excitedly exclaimed, throwing her arms around him for a hug as she invited him in.

"Sorry I'm late." Greg handed over the wrapped present for the birthday boy, pecking a kiss to her cheek before he made his way into the house, smiling as he saw his fiancé and child in the front room, curling streamers.

"Jason, we have presents... we need a table!" Anne called up the stairs to her husband, quickly checking on the children before she rushed up the stairs to find him. "Jason! Jason, where'd you go!"

"Hey honey, is everythin' okay?" Nick queried as his partner had just been to the doctors.

"I'm fine." Lifting his child from beside Nick, Greg held her securely against his chest then leant forwards to press a kiss to Nick's cheek. "I'm not pregnant, but it's only been a month and a half, so the doctor isn't worried. We'll just have to keep trying, if that's alright?"

"Of course that's alright." Nick gently cupped his partner's chin in his hand and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'm almost done with the streamers. The bouncy castle is up in the garden if you wonna go look." Nick pointed to it through the kitchen window as he pinned up the last of the curly streamers. "Are you okay, G?"

"Uh huh... I'm great." Grinning widely, Greg stole another kiss from his lips then carried Danielle out into the garden to show her the large bouncy castle that Anne and Jason's boys were bouncing up and down on together. Danielle pointed up at the large dragons on the outside, watching in amazement as the gooey floor inside bounced the children up and down so it looked as though they were flying.

"Marci's here!" Anne suddenly announced as she hurried back through to the house to open the front door. "Please tell me you remembered the birthday cake, Marci!" She begged her sister.

"Yes. Of course I did." Marci smiled at her big sister as she pulled the cake box from one of the bags in her hands. "I got the Spiderman one because they didn't have that... Barnacle one or whatever you suggested."

"Marci!" Anne groaned as she looked at the lettering on the cake. "Freddie has two D's."

"I'm sorry; tell that to the retarded cake decorator. I told her five times that Freddie was spelled with two D's, two E's and one I. She wouldn't listen." Marci defended herself as she followed her sister through to the front room. "Oh, hello." She greeted the handsome man in her sister's living room. "Did you finally dump, Jason?"

"No." Anne hissed at her. "Nicky, this is my little sister, Marci and her daughters Katie and Cassie." She pointed towards the two little girls behind her sister. "Girls, the boys are outside and the bouncy castles all set up." Eight year old Katie immediately hurried out of the door to go take a look, leaving her four year old sister stood beside her mother.

"It's very nice to meet you, Nicky." Marci politely shook his hand, licking her lips as she looked him over like a piece of meat. "What's a guest doing helping you decorate for your son's birthday party?" Marci queried, following her sister through to the kitchen.

"He offered to help. Nicky, you can stop now if you want." Anne called out to him. "Would you like a beer, or I've got orange juice or water."

"No, I'm fine, thanks." He assured her, clearing away the pins and scissors so none of the children would step on them.

"Thank you." Anne took them off his hands, smiling as she looked around the room. "Wow, have you ever decorated for a party before?"

"Nope, he's just a perfectionist." Greg grinned as he appeared from the other door. "Anne, your boys are climbing the walls of the bouncy castle."

"Oh god." Anne quickly set the birthday cake down on the side then hurried into the garden to scold her older boys for climbing the walls of the bouncy castle.

"Hello." Marci greeted the even cuter young man in her sister's kitchen. "I'm Marci. Anne's little sister."

"Greg." He introduced himself, politely shaking her hand as Marci gazed into his eyes. "This is Danielle." He pointed to the little girl in his arms.

"Aww, she looks just like you. This is my youngest, Cassie." Marci reached out for her daughter's hand beside her, encouraging the shy child to step out from behind her legs. "So, how do you know my sister?" She queried.

"I live across the street with Nick." Greg smiled towards his fiancé as he saw the jealous expression on his face.

"Oh... is he your roommate."

Greg shook his head. "No, actually he's my boyfriend."

"Oh." Marci sighed in disappointment then lifted her daughter into her arms, carrying her off towards the door. "C'mon honey, let's go see the bouncy castle."

"You flirt." Nick smiled over at his boyfriend.

"I wasn't flirting. I was just being nice. Is it my fault that these women find me irresistible?" He cheekily grinned over at his partner, giggling as Nick pulled him towards him to press a possessive kiss to his lips.

"Just remember who you belong to, baby." Nick grinned as he pulled back, pressing a kiss to his daughter's forehead as she reached her hand out to him.

"As if I could forget." Greg winked back.

"I got it!" Anne shouted as she heard the doorbell going off again. "Hello!" She greeted the group of guests at the door. "The parties just getting started out back. Hello Caitlyn, that's a very pretty dress, honey. Ooh, is that a gift for Freddie, Bobby?"

As the party guests continued to arrive, Anne and her husband Jason ushered them through to the garden where the children were having the time of their lives on the bouncy castle and playing with all the other toys that littered the garden.

"What's the time, Mr Wolf?" The birthday party guests shouted together as they started up a new game.

"Seven o' clock." The wolf, Freddie's big brother, Steven answered.

"One... two... three... four... five... six... seven!" The children counted together as they took small steps forwards. Greg smiled as Danielle tried to join in, skipping alongside Marci's daughters either side of her.

"They're so cute when they're that age." Marci chuckled as she took a seat beside Greg at the table. "How did you have her?" She curiously asked her.

"Um..."

"Marci!" Anne scolded her sister. "Stop being so nosy and go and get Greg a drink." She instructed, ushering her sister away. "I'm sorry Greg, she's so nosy."

"Am not." Marci glared at her big sister then climbed to her feet, making her way into the house to get Greg a drink.

Greg watched her grumpily going back into the house then turned his head back towards the children, just as they all shouted, "What's the time, Mr Wolf?"

"Um... three o'clock!" Steven answered.

"One... two... three." The children started giggling in excitement as they got closer and closer towards the wolf. "What's the time, Mr Wolf?" They repeated.

"Dinnertime!" Steven shouted, making the children shriek as they started to run away. Danielle stood perfectly still as the other children ran around her, trying to get away from the wolf so they wouldn't be tagged as it. Some of the children hurried towards the bouncy castle, screeching in excitement as Steven climbed in after them.

A few more minutes of screaming later, Anne decided to break them all up and get them settled before their parents started to arrive to pick them up. "Jason, go and get the cake set up with candles before they get too riled up." Anne instructed her husband. "Nicky, you better go and rescue Danielle from the stampede." Anne pointed as Danielle was stood outside of the entrance to the bouncy castle.

"I got her." Nick scrambled to his feet, rescuing her from the stampede of children pouring out of the doorway to the bouncy castle.

"Okay kids, its cake time!" Anne shouted before she disappeared into the house to help her husband light the candles on their son's birthday cake. The children slowly made their way up the garden towards the parents at the tables, ready to wish the birthday boy, happy birthday.

Nick took a seat beside Greg, sitting Danielle down on his lap, just as Anne and Jason stepped out the back door. Anne carried the birthday cake towards the end of the table where Marci was sitting with the birthday boy sat on her lap.

"Happy Birthday to you." Everyone started singing together, making Freddie blush as he leant back on his aunt's lap. "Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to Freddie! Happy Birthday to you!" Everyone applauded, cheering for Freddie as his mother set the cake down in front of him.

"Make a wish, sweetheart." Anne whispered. Freddie looked around at his party guests then made a wish and blew out his candles, giggling as everyone cheered for him again.

"Oh I missed it!" An older woman groaned as she stepped out into the back garden.

"Mom, you're like an hour late." Anne scolded her mother as she started to remove the candles so she could cut the cake up for the children.

"I'm sorry. If you would just live closer to home like your brother. I wouldn't have to drive for four whole hours just to get here for my grandbabies third birthday." Her mother scolded her daughter back. Greg looked at Anne's mother wide eyed, having a sense of déjà vu as she reminded him so much of his own mother.

"I'm sorry, Mom. Who wants cake?" She asked, holding up the first sliced piece of Spiderman cake.

"Me! Me! Me!" All the children shouted together as they jumped up and down at Anne's side.

Once all the children had a slice of cake, Anne started to cut some for the adults that wanted some, taking a few slices to the other end of the table for Nick, Greg and Danielle. "Mom, these are my neighbours, Nick and Greg. And this is their daughter, Danielle." Anne introduced her mother to them.

"Hello. I'm Anne's mother, Paula." The woman introduced herself.

"She's also my mother, but I'm _not_ the favourite child." Marci remarked, giggling as her mother poked her in the side. "It's because I'm the youngest isn't it, I'm the forgotten child."

Paula decided to ignore her daughter and take a seat beside the two men that she was much more interested in meeting. "Anne tells me that you two are thinking of getting married soon." Nick and Greg nervously nodded to her. "My son Brad, my eldest child that is. He just married his partner, Ethan last month after they've been together for seven years. I personally think it's completely unfair that you're not entitled to the same rights as everyone else. My youngest Marci has been married three times in the past eight years..."

"Mom." Marci groaned.

"I'm sorry. I'm just saying. I know lots of straight couples that have gone through divorce or multiple marriages. Then there's my son who's been with his partner for seven years and he's barely just earned the right to marry him. He's not legally married in his own state; he had to drive all the way up to Canada to do it. How can they say that same sex couples are ruining the sanctity of marriage?"

"Mom, don't get started on that again." Anne warned her. "Nick and Greg don't wonna hear all about your P-FLAG meetings and stuff like that."

"I'm sorry." Paula apologised then pulled a card from her purse. "Here's my number though if you need any help getting your weddin' legalised..."

"Mom!" Anne snapped.

"I'm only trying to help." Paula defended herself. "As a member of the P-FLAG community it's my right to help those couples in need. Brad and Ethan had to go through years of paper work just to get equal rights to their son, Connor. You'll never know what it's like because you and Jason are apparently normal after all the break ups, the almost divorce and not to mention his little indiscretion with his secr..."

"That's it, mother." Anne helped her to her feet, directing her off into the house to talk to her about privacy.

"Remind you of anyone?" Greg smiled round at his fiancé. "Maybe we should give this number to my mother; she'd love to know there's someone like her in the world."

"I'm sure she would." Nick chuckled, gently wiping the red icing from Danielle's lower lip. "But they'll probably want us to socialise with Brad and Ethan." Nick pointed out to him. "We don't even socialise with anyone outside of work..."

"You don't. I do." Greg interrupted him with a giggle. "You're not a full time parent. You get to go to work and socialise with grownups. I have to socialise with the parents at day care, neighbours and random people I meet in line at Costco. You see that little boy there." Greg pointed to the ginger haired boy, picking the crusty scab on his elbow. "That's Timmy. His mother Susanne has just gone through a nasty divorce. She's got a big golden Labrador called Mable, which Danielle loves. And you see the little girl in the pink stripy socks." Greg pointed to a little girl, stuffing her face with cake. "Her mother Tatiana works as a part time waitress. She got pregnant after a wild night at the strip club she used to work at. After she gave birth to her daughter Alisa, she decided to clean up her life and get a job that required clothing."

"You socialise with ex-strippers and divorcees... should I be jealous?"

Greg giggled, shaking his head at him. "Nope, I'm not the same ole Greg. I'm not into models, strippers and easy women that only want, you know what. I'm completely one hundred percent loyal and in love with you, cowboy." Greg tapped the ring on his finger, giving his fiancé a wide smile.

"Good." Nick grinned at him. "So how come when I drop her off at day care, no one ever talks to me but you know all this about these people?"

"Because you can't wait to drop her off and get to work." Greg pointed out to him. "I'm a people person. I stick around to talk to them, that's how I know all this. And we meet at these amazing places called parks where kids get to play on swings and things while we sit and talk." He teased. "I miss you while you're at work, so I talk to other people to fill the loneliness."

"I'm sorry." Nick apologised again. "We keep havin' this argument about me workin' so much, but you know I have to. Especially after you were hurt..."

"I know you _have_ to work. I'm just worried that you're gonna miss out on everything in Danielle's life just like my Dad missed out on mine."

"Okay, I get it. So I'm missin' out on the part of parentin' that involves socialisin' with other parents. But at least I'm not missin' out on the other parts." He smiled at his partner as he gently brushed his hand across his daughter's forehead.

"Actually, you kinda missed her first steps." Greg finally admitted to him. "When you saw her walking, it was actually the third time, not the first. The first time was at my Mom's house. She was sitting on the floor with my Dad and she pushed herself up to stand and walked over to my mother by the sofa. I told them not to say anything, because you wouldn't have wanted to miss that. She was walking back at home while you were at work then the next day when you saw her walk; I acted surprised as if it was the first time because I didn't want you to miss out."

"You're sweet, but you don't have to do that." Nick smiled at him. "I didn't miss out on her birth. That was the real thing, right?"

"Yes." Greg giggled softly. "We don't have to have another baby, Nicky. I can go back to work so we get equal time with her. It's not fair that you're the only one working anyway."

"No, Greg." Nick shook his head. "I want to have another baby with you. And I don't mind workin' to support my family. I'd rather it this way then you bein' hurt again." He assured him.

"Okay." Greg smiled back at him, feeling a little less guilty for depending on Nick. "So are we stopping at two kids? You know we never discussed that before." Greg pointed out to him. "We've adjusted to the one we got. You come from a big family, and I'm an only child so we know both sides of it."

"I've always kinda wanted a big family of my own." Nick nodded to him. "Growin' up in a big family was great. Some parts of it anyway. There's always someone there for you in a big family, even if you're not talkin' to someone because of a disagreement or somethin'. My Dad was pretty strict with us, but my Mom loved spendin' time with us all. I didn't enjoy bein' the baby some of the time, but other times I did. We all kinda got our own independence early on."

"Sounds like you loved it."

"I did." Nick admitted, but his smile soon faded as he realised how lonely he was now that he had come out to his family. "I do kinda miss it too. My older brother and sister didn't really like it though because my parent's attention was more focused on the younger ones while they were in their teens, and they always had to babysit while their friends were out at the mall or movies."

"So Danielle will end up resenting us for having to babysit her little brothers and sisters." Greg smiled at his daughter, not ever wanting her to resent him for anything. "I hated being an only child though. The only company I had was my smothering mother, that's why I loved spending time with my Papa and Nana Olaf so much, because they were my escape from her."

"Okay." Nick smiled at him. "And I thought that you said after Danielle you're never ever, ever doin' that again."

"I know, but I miss having a life growing inside of me. You have no idea how it feels, and the last part of it is pretty painful. But it's all worth it for this little one." Lifting his daughter's hands into his own, Greg smiled as he looked into her eyes. "The good outweighs the bad of pregnancy by far."

"Maybe we should make a list of advantages and disadvantages before we really decide." Nick suggested.

"Let's do it now. You grew up doing chores because in big families everyone pitches in right. Look at us now. I can't work the dishwasher. I'm terrible at ironing. I hate cleaning the bathroom. I especially hate taking out the trash. I always leave laundry to the last minute and I've never washed a car a day in my life. All because my mother never let me lift a finger when I was kid. I got whatever I wanted when I wanted it because I was their one and only priority. You're right, I am spoiled."

Nick smiled at him, agreeing with everything he was saying. "Okay, the advantages of a big family I guess would be your own independence, workin' chores from a young age. We had to work to get a new pair of jeans and things, so we learnt the value of money early on. The disadvantages would be the hand me downs. I had to wear my brother's old clothes and my sisters less girly stuff right up until Highschool. And my brother was twelve when I was born and we always had to share a room. That was more of a disadvantage for him though, because he moved out when I was about nine or ten. My sisters hated sharin' rooms and borrowin' clothes though. Bathrooms were also a big issue."

"So we won't have seven. I don't think I could handle seven kids growin' separately inside of me along with the birth too."

"So... not too big and not too small." Nick surmised. "So, what do we say to about... three?"

"Or four, two girls and two boys. I'd like twin boys then another baby girl." Greg grinned round at him. "At least that way when they're grown up, one of them will come visit us for Christmas." He smirked.

"With Jean as their grandmother, they'll all visit us for Christmas." Nick chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to Danielle's forehead as she looked up at him. "Won't you, baby?"

Danielle responded with a soft sigh as she reclined back against his chest.

"Okay, who's up for musical chairs?" Anne called out into the garden after she returned from scolding her mother for embarrassing her in front of their guests. As the children jumped to their feet, shouting that they wanted to play, Anne and her sister Marci started to set up the chairs while her husband, Jason set up the music.

"Does Danielle wonna play?" Greg queried, looking round at her. "It's real easy. When the music stops you just have to run to an empty chair and sit down. If you're left standing up while everyone else is sitting down then you're out." Greg explained to her.

"Greg, she's two." Nick pointed out to him.

"I know, but she's not stupid. She understood 'what's the time, Mr Wolf' and 'freeze tag'."

"She didn't understand 'freeze tag'; she just copied what the others were doin'." Nick chuckled.

"Exactly, she still understood though." Greg lifted her from Nick's lap onto the floor then led her over to the other children getting ready to play the game.

Nick leant back in his seat, watching Greg explaining the game to their two year old again before they started up the game. Jason hit play for the first song to start up then watched as all the excited children skipped, danced and giggled around the chairs.

As soon as the music was stopped, the children all dove for the chairs, giggling as they dropped onto the empty seats.

Nick was surprised as Danielle actually managed to grab herself a seat, despite being half of the size of the other children.

Anne and Marci applauded them while escorting the whinny losers away from the game. Danielle managed to stay in the game for two more rounds until she fell to her knees on the grass, running to her father Greg on the sidelines, rather than the empty seat just a few feet from her.

Greg applauded her efforts anyway, making Nick smile as he was so full of love.

Nick and Greg stayed at the party for a while longer, until Nick had to go home to get some sleep before his next shift at the crime lab started. Greg made his usual phone call to his mother once he got Danielle settled with some toys, telling his mother all about Freddie's birthday party along with Anne's mother Paula that she was actually very interested to meet.

* * *

After Nick awoke from his slumber a few hours later, he showered and changed before he joined Greg in front of the television to watch the rest of some cartoon movie for Danielle with their dinners on their laps.

"Where are you going?" Greg queried as Nick abruptly climbed to his feet once he had finished.

"I've... I've got some research to do." Anxiously running his fingers through his hair, Nick tried to think up a decent lie as he looked his partner in the eyes. "I'll just be in the bedroom for a few minutes before I have to head into work."

"Fine." Greg smiled up at him, lifting Danielle onto the sofa beside him. "I'll watch the rest with Danielle."

"Okay." Nick gave him a guilty smile then headed off towards the bedroom, grabbing his laptop off the desk in the corner. He crashed out onto the sheets of his bed, resting his back against the headboard while he started his discreet research, constantly watching the door to make sure Greg didn't come in and find out what he was doing.

Once the movie finished in the front room, Greg carried Danielle through to the bathroom to give her a bath before he took her into the bedroom, not noticing Nick hiding the screen of his computer as he brought his daughter in so he could say good night to her.

Greg carried Danielle through to her room once she had said good night to her daddy. He dressed her into her pyjamas then read her a story, before he lifted the sleepy child into her crib and watched her slowly dozing off to sleep.

* * *

Quickly snapping the computer shut on his lap, Nick smiled towards the door as Greg came into the room. The younger man set two coffees down on the bedside table then straddled his boyfriend's thighs, moving his laptop to the bed beside him as he ignited a kiss to his lips. "Mmm, what's gotten into you?" Nick asked as he pulled back from him.

"Hopefully you." Greg replied, reaching for Nick's belt in front of him.

"Greg, I've gotta be at work in less than an hour."

"Oh c'mon Nicky," The younger man complained. "Please don't turn into one of _those_ guys who would rather be at work then have sex with their partner. If you're gonna do that now, then there's really no point in us even being together."

"We've had sex every night this week." Nick argued then saw the slight smile on Greg's lips that he was unable to suppress. "You're tryin' to manipulate me again, aren't you?"

"No, as if I would ever do anything like that. Wouldn't want to make you feel guilty for leaving your horny fiancé home alone." Greg grinned as he rolled off him onto the bed beside him. "You can go." Greg ushered him away with his hand as he closed his eyes.

"Okay fine." Nick rolled his eyes then stripped open his shirt and loosened his jeans before he climbed on top of Greg. "Just as long as you don't mind that we make this quick. I don't wonna tell Grissom I was late again because I was gettin' you off."

"Fine by me." Greg smiled against his lips, lifting his hips as Nick tugged his boxers down. "But technically speaking, you're the one that's supposed to get off in order for this to work."

"You know, when you talk like that it's a big turn off." Nick rasped, pushing his own boxers down past his knees. "And baby, you're way more important to me then work. But I have to work in order to keep my family happy."

"I know." Greg smiled up at him then raised his legs either side of Nick's body, relaxing his own body as Nick started to lick, nip and suck in all the right places, building his pleasure before he even entered him to plant his seed, hoping for a miracle.

* * *

Climbing onto the bed beside her husband, Jean gave him a wide smile as he glanced up at her over the book he was reading. "Okay, what is it?" He immediately asked, snapping the book shut on his lap.

"How do you know I want something?" She asked through a wide grin.

"Because I know you." Daniel smirked, reaching out for her hand with his own. "So, what is it?"

"I want a baby." She blurted.

Daniel raised his eyebrows, looking at her surprised. "Honey, for years you wanted a grandchild, now you've got your first... and you wonna start all over again?"

"Well, yeah." She awkwardly answered. "You know how much I've always wanted a child. More than one child. Having Greg was the best experience of my life, but we're not dead yet, Nick and Greg have their beautiful child..."

"We'll be in our sixties when they finally leave." Daniel interrupted her. "Do you remember the sleepless nights with Greg? We'll be much older this time around..."

"So you don't want another child?" She interrupted with a gasp. "We're more experienced now."

"We're grandparents." Daniel reminded her. "Apparently being a grandparent is a much easier experience than being a parent. Do you really wonna go back to diapers, sleepless nights and the constant worrying that they're gonna..." Daniel stopped himself before he finished his sentence, but Jean knew what he was going to say, bringing a tear to her eye.

"We both agreed that we always wanted four kids." She reminded him.

"We _had_ four, only one is alive today." Daniel pointed out.

"It won't be the same."

"That's what we said after... we always thought it would be different, that's why we kept trying, but we eventually gave up after it got too painful. We made that decision together, we can't have children."

"We had Greg."

"He was a miracle. Just like Danielle was to Nick and Greg." Turning to face his wife completely, Daniel held both of her hands in his own. "I can't lose another one. I can't go through that pain again. I almost lost Greg this year, I can't handle anymore."

"Okay... so that's out." Jean wiped the tears from her cheeks, confusing her husband as she never gave up that easily. "Well see, the thing is." Pulling a leaflet from her pocket, Jean handed it over to him, giving him a slight smile. "If you'd have let me finish, I'd have added the adoption part of this deal, so we don't have to go through the pregnancy part."

"Adoption?" Daniel gave her a quizzical look then flipped through the leaflet.

"There's so many unwanted children already in this world, so we can spare ourselves the pain of losing another baby, and adopt one that's already been born with strong healthy DNA." She suggested, giving him a wide smile as he looked up at her. "We can adopt a little girl or another little boy. The best thing is that Greg is completely on board with it."

"He is." Looking at her surprised, Daniel skim read through the leaflet again, before he smiled up at his wife, "Well, it sounds like a good plan to me."

"Seriously?" Jean let out an excited squeal then threw her arms around his shoulders, clutching him tightly. "And I didn't bully you into this at all; you do really want another child?"

"Yes I'm sure Jean. Since we've been looking after Danielle just a few hours at a time it's really hit me how much I miss being a father. I missed out on so much of Greg's childhood. But I can make it up to him now that he's a father himself. I would love to raise another child with you." He assured her, giving her a wide smile before he leant forwards to kiss her. "Hold on a minute." He suddenly stopped kissing her. "You talked this through with Greg... before me?"

"Oh... yeah, well... I didn't mean to." She defended herself. "We were talking about him and Nick having another baby together after they lost one. And it sorta came up then. Did you know I'm only two years older than Nick's big brother and he just had another set of twins with his wife?"

"No... I did not know that, but they've always been lucky with children. Your Norwegian uterus doesn't like my good ole fashion American sperm."

"That's why I suggested adoption." Jean smiled at him. "We could get a baby, a toddler... or a child... even a teenager. There's so many unwanted children in the world sweetheart, why waste time and our health on trying to conceive one ourselves and adopt one to give them a better life then they would ever have in foster care."

Daniel smiled widely as he saw the excited expression on his wife's face. "Okay. I'm on board."

"Great!" She exclaimed then grabbed the pamphlet from his hands. "I spoke to someone on the phone, and apparently the waiting period for a new born can take up to three years, but any other age... six months... minimum. I think she said that anyway. I was so excited that I..."

"Wait a minute." Daniel stopped her again. "So, let me get this straight. You told Greg. You've done the research and you've talked to people about the waiting period?" Jean anxiously bit her lower lip as she nodded to him through a guilty expression. "Am I going to be involved in _any_ of the decisions of our child's life?"

"Yes." She promised him. "I haven't picked if I want a girl or boy yet, but I've got my heart set on Stanford. He or she will be just as brainy as their big brother."

"It's a good thing I love you, honey." Daniel smiled at her as he initiated another kiss to her lips.

* * *

"Jeez Greg, you're kissin' me as if I'm goin' off to war or somethin'." Nick chuckled as he pulled back from his boyfriend's lips at the doorway. "I'm just goin' to work. I'll be back in the mornin'."

"I know." Greg stole another quick kiss then handed him his keys. "I'm just helplessly in love with you, silly."

"I know. I love you too. I'll see you later." Pressing a delicate kiss to his partner's lips, Nick slowly turned for the path behind him, making his way towards his car in the driveway. He turned to look back at Greg, giving him a wave as he climbed into his truck. Greg waved after him then closed the door and returned to his bedroom to sleep, hoping that this time it had worked and he was pregnant with another miracle.

* * *

**There it is! I hope you enjoyed that chapter, please let me know what you think!**

**Have a great weekend guys!**

**~ Holly**


	8. Chapter 8: Loyal Relationships

**Thanks so much for your reviews guys! I'm glad you're still enjoying this story**

**Warning for language in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Loyal Relationships**

Nick paced the floor of the hotel lobby, stuffing his hands deeper into his pockets as he continued to anxiously pace the floor, wearing tread marks into the carpet. The other hotel guests and visitors were cautiously stepping by him, thinking he was a crazy person or something from the way he marching up and down the lobby. "I'm sorry Mr Stokes; Kenneth Richmond didn't leave a forwarding address." The manager informed him, as he came back out the office. "We have no record of a phone number or anything either. What does the crime lab want with Kenny anyway?"

"Um... its eh... its private." Nick answered as the crime lab didn't actually know he was there and he wasn't meant to use his badge for personal business. "Thanks a lot." Nick thanked the manager then made his way out of the hotel, pulling the baseball cap down over his head as he got outside. He looked around at the valets in search for Kenny, but he couldn't see him anywhere.

"Can I help you find your car, sir?" One of the valets asked him.

"Eh... no. I'm actually... I'm lookin' for someone, Kenneth Richmond." He looked the valet in the eye, getting ready to tell if he was lying about his whereabouts or not.

"Um... Kenny quit." He informed him. "About a week ago, I think. He just up and left. He hadn't been here that long anyway. Excuse me." The man stepped around him, greeting some more hotel guests.

"Hey, do you know where he lives?" Nick queried, following him to the driver's side of the guests car. "Do you have a number for him... or anythin'?"

"Nah, sorry, bro." He shook his head. "I think he's got a cousin or a sister, Valerie I think at the Little Treasures... treasure something, it's a strip club. You know the little place downtown."

"Yeah, I know it." Nick nodded to him then thanked him before he hurried off to his truck, hoping to find out where Kenny was so he could find out where Valerie and his teenage child were.

* * *

Turning over on her bed, Jean sighed softly as she recalled the events of the previous night then reached out for her alarm clock, widening her eyes as she saw the time. "Daniel!" She called out to him, not finding him under the warm sheets. She searched the room with her sleepy eyes then crawled across the bed to check the time on her husband's clock, but it read exactly the same thing, eleven thirty eight am, the latest she had ever woken up since before Greg was born.

Jumping out of bed, Jean wrapped herself in a dressing gown then hurried down the stairs, finding her mother and son in the kitchen. "Oh, you're here early." She smiled at her son, raking her fingers through her messy pillow creased hair before she tightened the dressing gown around her waist. "I told you to come round for _dinner_ to celebrate."

"Late night, Mom?" Greg cheekily grinned towards her, glad he could finally tease her about something.

"Shut up, you little monster." She slapped him round the head then folded her arms across her chest. "Has your father gone to work already?"

"Yes, who do you think let us in?" Nana Olaf smirked. "Its eleven thirty, young lady."

"Yeah, Mom." Greg agreed with her. "You think you can just laze the day around when you've got a new kid in the house?"

"Oh shut up." Jean scowled at her son.

"He's right you know, no more sleeping in until noon with another child running riot around the house." Her mother smirked as she handed her daughter a hot cup of coffee. "Daniel told us the good news too, but I didn't know you were actually going to try for a baby literally. Surely your uterus is all worn out by now. There's no way you'll ever get pregnant."

"Oh shut up mother. I'm only forty six, and we were celebrating." Jean giggled as she brushed aside her honey brown hair from her forehead. "So he told you both?" She queried, looking between the two of them.

"Only about the adoption." Greg assured her. "And please _don't_ fill us in on the details of the other part." He begged her.

Jean smiled at him then looked up at the time. "Where's Nicky? I thought he was coming with you?"

"He's still at work, a double shift. And we weren't due here until dinner anyway, so you can't tell him off. Oh and he called to say he's sorry and congratulations." Greg climbed off his stool to give her a quick hug, before he headed across the hall to check on Danielle as he heard her calling out to him.

"Are you sure you're ready for another baby in this house?" Nana Olaf queried, leaning against the counter in front of her daughter.

"Yes I'm sure. You know how much I love children. I don't want to regret never having anymore for the rest of my life. Even if they're not my own, I don't think it really matters anymore. Gregory no longer needs me anymore..."

"He hasn't needed you since he said 'goodbye, Mom' and moved out for college." She giggled.

"That's not funny, and also not true. He needed me for his first pregnancy. He needed me after he got pregnant with Nick's baby, and he'll always need me in some way." Jean assured her before she took a sip of the hot coffee in her hands. "Ew gosh, this isn't that expensive crap Greg always buys it?" She cringed.

"Bite your tongue." Greg gasped as he made his way back into the room with Danielle in his arms. "That's my special mix of Blue Hawaiian coffee."

"It's horrible." She cringed, setting the mug down on the counter. "Well I'm going to go and get spruced up. Hello sweetheart." She greeted her granddaughter in her son's arms then made her way back off up the stairs to shower and get herself dressed.

"Let me have a hold." Nana Olaf stepped around the counter, reaching her arms out for her great granddaughter from her grandson's arms. "Is she talking a mile a minute yet? How's she ever gonna win the Academic Decathlon if she doesn't start talking?" She giggled, bouncing the little girl in her arms.

"I think she's a little young to enter the Decathlon. I lost and you were still proud of me." Greg reminded her, taking a seat at the counter.

"You got forth place if I remember correctly. That's not a loss to me. And I'm proud of you no matter what you do." She assured him. "Besides you would have won if those idiots on your team had even tried. They should have graded you as individuals."

Greg smiled at her as he rested on his elbow on the counter. "That's the whole point in the competition though. You have to work as a team to get up your points. And it was too much work, that's why I only entered it once."

"My little brain box could have gone right to first if he had the patience for it." Nana Olaf smirked as she looked into her great granddaughter's eyes. "Are you sticking around?" She queried. "Your Papa Olaf will be back from the store in a few minutes."

"Unless Nick comes home... yeah."

"Aww, are you lonely without him?" She smiled at him, resting Danielle against her side as she gently brushed her fingertips through her short strands of hair. "That's why you should have lots and lots of babies while you're young to keep you company. Isn't that right?" She asked the child in her arms, smiling towards her grandson as Danielle responded with a smile.

* * *

"Excuse me." Nick leant against the counter of the bar, looking the blonde haired bar tender in the eye. "I'm lookin' for a girl named Valerie Richmond." He was hoping that this was the place where Kenny's cousin worked so he could find his illegitimate child.

"Ain't no names like that in this place, honey. There's a Brandi, Destiny and a Lola on the stage tonight." She pointed over to the main stage. "Maybe the girl you're looking for didn't give you her real name?" She suggested as she saw the disappointment on his face. "My names Princess, but my real names Hayley. It's the nickname my father used to call me before he walked out on us when I was eight. It happens a lot in places like these."

"Yeah, thanks." Nick put his back to the bar, looking around at the half naked strippers that used to float his boat before he laid his eyes on Greg.

Pulling his CSI badge from his pocket, Nick headed over to the manager talking to one of his patrons, deciding to flash his badge to find out if he knew Valerie Richmond.

The manager led the CSI off into his office, thinking he was here on official business. "You know, most of these girls don't even give me their real names, Mr Stokes. I can't tell you how many Chardonnay's, Angel's or Crystal's I've had working for me over the years." He smirked as he pulled his records of the girls working for him. "At the moment... I don't have anyone named Valerie."

"Don't they have to give you an address, last name or anythin' like that?"

"Most of them work off the books." He admitted. "They keep what they earn from their tips; I pay the rest to them by cheque. I don't need last names or an address for that."

"Photos?" Nick asked. "Do you have ID's or anythin' like that?" The manager shook his head again. "Okay, thanks for your help."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful, Mr Stokes. Help yourself to anything from the bar, and I'll let you have one of my best girls in the back room."

"No thanks." Nick shook his head. "I'm on duty."

"We got a lovely looking girl that'll do the whole police officer thing. She's real popular among the locals."

"No, I'm fine." He assured him, making a break for the door before the scent of strippers got into his clothes and Greg started asking questions.

* * *

Making his way off through the halls of the lab with his baby perched against his side, Greg frantically searched all of the labs for his missing fiancé, not finding him anywhere. "Greg?" Warrick's voice called from down the hall. "What are yah doing here, bro?"

"I was looking for Nick. He's not answering his phone and I was worried about him since he's been on this double shift forever."

Warrick looked at him wide eyed a moment then nervously bit his lower lip. "Well, I haven't seen him around. He was working a case with Catherine last I saw, but she went home hours ago. Maybe she had to pick up Lindsay or something?" He suggested as he didn't want his friend to get in trouble, even though Greg was his friend too.

"Okay, thanks." Greg nodded to him then slowly turned for the door, dialling Nick's number again. "Nicky, where are you?" He groaned as he took the elevator back down to the parking lot. He couldn't see any sign of Nick's truck down there, so assumed he must be out on a case.

"_Stokes."_ Nick finally answered.

"Nicky, where are you? I've been worried sick that you got shot or something."

"_I'm sorry; I was just workin' some last minute case details. I'm just gonna finish up back here at the lab and I'll be home in a few minutes."_

"You're at the lab right now?" Greg was hoping to catch him out.

"_Yeah, I'm just finishin' up my case with Catherine. I'll see you in a few minutes, baby. Don't worry yourself, I'm fine."_

Greg snapped his phone shut in his hand, leaning back against the elevator wall as he tried to get the troubling thoughts out of his mind. His mother had always warned him not to give his heart to a cheater, even if they were cheating on their spouse with him because if they were once a cheater, they would always be a cheater.

But he refused to believe that Nick could do that to him. He wasn't even a very good liar; there was no way he could possibly be cheating on him.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Warrick." Nick apologised into his cell phone. "I never asked you to lie for me though, so you can't go blamin' me. And I'm not cheatin' on Greg. I would never do that to him. But thanks." Nick snapped his phone shut, not giving his friend any time to protest as he pulled his truck into the parking lot of another strip club with the word 'Treasure' in its name. He couldn't believe how many of them there were in the city, but it was making his job to find his illegitimate child very difficult.

Making his way into yet another strip club on his way back home, Nick stepped up to the bar, getting the attention of the male bar tender behind it wearing a cowboy hat. "What can I getcha?" He queried.

"Actually, I'm lookin' for someone. Do you know a woman named..." Nick stopped mid sentence as he spotted a familiar face in the distance. "Never mind." Nick told the bar tender then made his way off through the club, alerting the attention of the man sat in the booth.

"Nicky Stokes." He laughed then scooted across on the booth seat, making room for him on the chair, but Nick shook his head in refusal to sit down beside him. "So what brings you here, lil bro? I thought you were more into men. That's what the judge says anyway. You brought your boyfriend to Gwen's baptism thing didn't you?" He remembered as he took a swig of his bar.

"Yeah, so what's the model child of the family doin' in, 'The Treasure Box'?" Nick queried, ignoring the dirty looks from the other men at his brother's table.

"I'm here on business, thought I'd take some time off. I see why you like this city so much, lil Nicky. It's certainly got potential. What I don't understand is why you'd switch teams and bang a man instead of all of these... fine women." He purred as he looked up at the dancer on their table. "Sit down lil bro; I'll buy you a lap dance like old times."

"No." Nick declined his offer again then looked up surprised as he saw the other man joining them at the table.

"Hey, Nick." Kenny casually greeted him as he picked up his beer again. "What are you doing here? You here on official police business again or something?"

"No, he's here to check out the other team. See what you're missin' out on, Nicky." His big brother laughed as he pointed towards two of the dancers making out on stage. "Don't tell me that doesn't turn you on, yah little fag. Why would you wonna give this up and go kiss a man of all things."

"Honey, I ask myself that all the time." The dancer smirked as she stepped off the table, giving Nick a wide smile as she scored her fingertip across his broad chest. "Nothing turns me on more than thinking of two hot sweaty guys making out." She purred, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Then you're just as _fucked_ up as he is." Chuck spat at her, shoving her away from the table.

"Don't touch me, _bitch_!" She shouted at him.

"Here, darlin'." Kenny tipped her a few bills, sending her away from the table so Chuck didn't get kicked out by the large bouncer by the door.

"Hey Kenny, I guess you didn't hear about the little queer Nicky here. Your old Highschool pal has switched to the other team. He gives it to a pillow bitin' lab geek, of all things on regular basis. Doncha Nicky?" Chuck grinned up at his little brother, hoping to hit a nerve.

"I didn't know you were a fag, Nick." Kenny looked up at his Highschool friend surprised. "You were never like that in school were yah? Damn, what the hell drove you to that?"

"Doesn't matter." Nick shook his head, refusing to get embarrassed from the way his brother was outing him to people. "Kenny, I need to find Valerie."

"What in the hell do you need to find her for?"

"Oh yeah, I heard you knocked her up." Nick's brother gave out a drunken laugh. "Good thing Mama and Dad don't know about that little indiscretion. They shoulda made you marry her while they had the chance. Maybe then you wouldn't be givin' it to that little fuckin' faggot of yours."

"Just shut up." Nick snapped at him. "Kenny, I just need to know where she is."

"Sure man." Kenny lowered his beer and pointed to a picture up on the wall of her under the name 'Pearl'. "She works here. It's her night off though." Pulling a pack of match sticks from his pocket, Kenny wrote down a phone number then handed it over to Nick. "You wonna find your kid, man?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded; glad his old friend wasn't disgusted by his lifestyle like his brother was. "Thanks, Kenny." Kenny nodded to him then called the waitress over to order another beer as if nothing had happened, annoying Nick's big brother, Chuck.

"Nicky, wait up." Chuck climbed to his feet, swung his jacket over his shoulder then hurried out of the club after his brother. Nick ignored his brother, pocketing the match stick box as he made his way back through the parking lot towards his truck. "Are you gonna run from me now you little faggot? I'm your fuckin' brother."

"You don't act like it."

With his coat slung over his shoulder, Chuck drunkenly stumbled towards his brother, thinking of something hurtful to say while he fantasised about beating his little brother to a bloody pulp for destroying their family.

"Nicky, wake the fuck up already. You're not livin' in a fuckin' dream world. You can't be doin' this shit. Mama may accept you, but that's just because she's afraid to lose her little butt munchin' son. You've had your fuckin' two years of bein' different, just like you always wanted to be. Just give it a rest already, faggot. It's not fuckin' funny anymore."

"What's funny is an adulterous schoolin' me in sins."

"I'm not an adulterous." He protested like a whinny child. "The preferred term is affairs, faggot."

"Well my preferred term is same sex couple." Nick retorted. "How can you compare what you're doin' to your wife to what I do with Greg? I'm in a loyal lovin' relationship; you're cheatin' on your wife."

"Yeah... well I don't sleep with other men." Was the best answer his brother could come up with in his drunken state, "Besides it's not illegal to sleep with other women."

"It is in the eyes of god. I thought you'd know that since you're a good ole church goin' boy."

"Well... you're just a fuckin' queer, what do you know."

"Good come back." Nick applauded his brother. "I love Greg, and nothin' you say or do will stop that. This isn't some phase that I can just get over. I fell in love with the person he is; his body's just a bonus. He gets me more than anyone, and I really don't give a shit what you think of me."

"God, who the fuck are you?" He suddenly shouted, dropping his jacket to the floor. "It's like I don't even fuckin' know you anymore. My little brother would never turn his back on his family and jump into bed with a man. It's fuckin' disgustin'."

"And the big brother I knew was completely in love with Vanessa. I haven't changed at all; I just fell in love with Greg, what's your excuse?" Nick snapped. "You call me disgustin' when I'm in a loyal relationship while you're screwin' women behind your wife's back."

Chuck stared at him for the longest moment then gave out a groan of annoyance. "You keep twistin' everythin' around on me. You're a vile and disgustin' man havin' unnatural and filthy sex with another man, not me." Shoving his brother up against the side of his truck, Chuck felt like hitting him but he could still see the little brother who used to look up to him in his eyes. "Why can't you at least try and get some help?"

"Help with what? I'm finally perfectly happily."

Chuck gaped at his brother. "What the fuck has this city done to you?"

"Nothin', I just fell for Greg." Nick defended himself, pushing his brother back. "Stop bein' the helpful big brother and just leave me alone. I don't expect you to accept me. I just wonna be left alone."

"Fine, as if I need a faggot as a brother anyway." Chuck muttered, grabbing his jacket off the floor. "If you don't care about yourself, you could at least care about that fuckin' queer spawn of yours. It may be all cute havin' two fathers now, but she'll fuckin' hate you once she grows up and learns the truth. If you ask me, your fuckin' spawn is better off dead."

Unable to hold back his anger anymore, Nick took a swing at his brother, clocking him right in the jaw. "Don't you ever fuckin' talk about my family again." He raged.

Overwhelmed by his little brother's uncharacteristic anger, Chuck stumbled back, falling against the car behind him as he looked into the eyes of the little boy who used to look up to him as his cool big brother. "Ouch, what the fuck was that for?"

"Not one more word about them." Nick sternly warned him. "You can call me a faggot, butt muncher or whatever all you like, but not one word about them or I swear I'll kill yah. I'll fuckin' make you disappear so no one will ever find you."

"Jeez, I got it." Chuck winced from the pain in his jaw, actually fearing the next blow as the first felt as though he had cracked his jaw. "You couldn't give me a lift back to my hotel could you?"

"Are you fuckin' serious?" Nick glared at him as if he was completely stupid. "After all that you want me to drive you home?"

"Well I can't very well drive home drunk now can I?"

"Right, you wouldn't wonna commit two sins on the same night." Nick rolled his eyes at him then fumbled with the keys in his hands as he made his decision. He could either let his brother drive home drunk and have to clean up a crime scene caused by him the next day or just drive him home now, even though he hated his guts right now.

"Fine, but you fuckin' talk to me and I'm throwin' you out in the worst part of town where they'll do worse than just mug you." He warned him.

"Fine." Chuck agreed then took a swing at his brother, hitting him with slightly less force in the jaw. "And that's for hittin' me, queer." He spat at him.

Wiping the blood from his lip, Nick frowned at his brother as he walked by him, watching him climbing straight into his passenger seat as if everything was alright between them. He wiped the blood from his lip onto his shirt, remembering their fights as kids when Chuck always had to hit him harder than he had just him, and the battle wouldn't stop until either their mother broke them up or Chuck decided his brother had enough.

Nick climbed into his truck, ignoring his brother's dirty looks as he started the engine. "Which hotel you stayin' at?" He queried.

"I thought I wasn't supposed to talk." Chuck smiled round at him through a smug grin, then answered, "Tangiers."

Nick nodded to him then directed his truck out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of the Tangiers casino. Chuck did as instructed and remained silent for most of the drive, casting looks towards his brother every few seconds as he tried to think of something to say. "What?" Nick finally asked.

"Nothin', I was just wonderin' how you got so mixed up when I was explainin' sex to you." Chuck laughed. "I don't ever recall tellin' yah how to do it with a guy."

"I told you not to fuckin' talk about that."

"I'm sorry; I'm just tryin' to understand why you'd want to fuck guys."

"For starters, close minded assholes like you will never understand. I don't _want_ to fuck guys. My relationship with Greg isn't all about sex. We do tons of stuff together that doesn't even involve sex." Nick explained to him as he pulled into the hotel parking lot. "I'm not with him because it's wrong or against our family's way of life. I'm not with him just for the sex either. He makes my life worth livin'. I love him and that's all you need to understand."

"Fine." Chuck raised his hands in defeat then reached for the door handle beside him. "Then I'll leave you and your queer lifestyle alone."

"Good. I'll leave you and your adulterous one alone too." Nick smiled after him, watching his brother grumpily slamming the door shut, before he made his way off towards the entrance of the hotel. Nick waited a moment then pulled away; quickly slamming the brake on his brother suddenly appeared in front of him. "Shit, Chuck!" He snapped, winding down his window. "What the hell are you doin'?"

Chuck anxiously ran his fingers through his short buzz cut hair before asking, "You didn't tell Dad about my little vacation in drug rehab did you?"

"No. I promised you I wouldn't."

His brother gave him a slight nod as he swallowed his pride. "What about the pastor's daughter that I knocked up?" He queried.

"No." He assured him. "I never told him anythin'." Nick gave his brother a curious look as he looked as though he was trying to say something nice to him, but he was having trouble getting his words out because his little brother's different lifestyle squicked him out. "What do you want, Chuck? I've got a family to get home to." Nick pointed out to him.

"Okay... I'm not sayin' I accept you or anythin'... because it's gonna take a whole lot longer than that to get used to my baby brother givin' it to a guy. Wa-wait... don't drive off yet." He stopped him. "I'm tryin' to talk here, Nicky. I'm forty four. I don't know anyone who is gay. I was taught to believe its wrong and disgustin', and all about the sex."

"Well it's not. If I wanted that I woulda stuck to screwin' women every chance I got."

"So the sex isn't that good?" He suddenly asked.

"What? I'm not tellin' you that." Nick scowled at him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it to sound like that." Chuck slapped himself in the head. "Basically, you're still a fag... but you're still my little brother. I'm not sayin' I like yah or accept yah."

"Then what _are_ you tryin' to say?"

"I don't want you do be queer, Nicky. Have you tried not bein' gay? We all have thoughts..."

"If this is your big meaningful talk, I might as well just go now." Nick interrupted him. "I don't expect you to understand. I've been with hoards of women, just like you have... then I met and fell in love with Greg. Trust me; I've tried not to feel anythin' for him. I didn't want to be gay either, but it's in my DNA. It's somethin' I can't fight and I really don't want to now that he's in my life."

"Couldn't you just date a butch girl?"

Nick laughed, shaking his head at him. "No, because I fell for Greg's personality. It wouldn't bother you so much if he was the same person without the junk between his legs. But he was born that way and I love him." Nick was glad his brother was finally listening to him instead of just verbally gay bashing him, so he continued, "Me bein' this way has nothin' to do with the way I was raised, the city I live in or the relationship between me and Dad. It's as natural as you fallin' in love with Vanessa. You dated cheerleaders all throughout Highschool and college then you fell in love with the plain librarian."

"Vanessa's not plain." He protested.

"That's what you told me, when you said you fell in love with her." Nick reminded him. "You said she didn't have the best rack, her hair was all greasy and she didn't have a whole lot of friends, but she talked to you like a person instead of a dumb jock."

"She grew into her rack thank you very much." Chuck pointed out to him.

"Yeah, but you still fell for her. Just the same way Gwen fell for the biker boy after she told us how much she hated guys with tattoos, long hair and piercings. You can't help who you fall in love with. I just fell in love with Greg." He defended himself. "For the first time in my life I'm in love with someone who loves me back and I'm suddenly the abomination of the family. I'm hated by everyone just for followin' my heart like the rest of you did."

"I don't hate you, Nicky."

"The fag, butt munchin' and queer remarks say different."

Chuck averted his eyes to the door of Nick's truck, feeling guilty in his drunken haze for some of the things he said to the little boy who you used to worship him as a child. "Okay fine, but I'm not joinin' no pride marches or socialisin' with dudes in dresses." He warned him. "And no huggin' or any of that girly crap. But... you're alright, Nicky."

"Huh?" Nick thought he must have something in his ears.

"You just want me to say it out loud, don't you?" He groaned. "Fine... I'll... well, here's the thing. When I met Vanessa she wouldn't have sex with me because she heard about my reputation, so I pretended to be loyal with her while we did all the girly datin' crap. Then after like... I think it was seven months of datin', she finally let me... pull a goalie..."

"What's the point of this story?" Nick interrupted him, confused.

"I'm gettin' there." Chuck hushed him. "When we did the deed, she said that sex is the ultimate expression of love between two people who deeply care for one another. I never saw sex like that before, because that's not what my friends taught me, since Dad never talked to us about it. I saw sex as fun or becomin' a man, but what you just said about Greg... I realise that Vanessa is right."

"You've been married to her for what... thirty years and you only just figured that out?" Nick smirked.

"Shut up, man. It's not funny." Chuck scowled at his little brother. "I was taught to believe faggots... I'm sorry; I mean gay men only have sex with other men, not relationships. But what you just said about Greg... I realise it's not true. And I'm sorry about what I said about the kid. I know how it is to lose a child. When we lost a baby after the twins, it was the first time I ever cried in front of Vanessa, and I didn't feel weak or anythin' like Dad said when we weren't allowed to cry as kids."

"You don't even know her name, do you?"

"Huh?" Chuck looked up at him confused.

"My daughter, you don't even know her name, do you?" Chuck thought about it a moment then shook his head to his little brother. "Danielle."

"Right, I knew that." Chuck gave him a guilty smile as he took a step back from the car. "So, what are you stickin' around here for queer, you wonna hug from your big brother or somethin'? I thought you said you have a family to get home to."

Nick laughed at his brother again, putting the car into gear. "Is that your best attempt at tryin' to tell me you're okay with me?"

"Well I'm not comin' round for dinner any time soon to hang out with you and gay pals, but I guess we're okay." Chuck shrugged then averted his eyes from him. "It's not like I have another brother in the world. You're the only one I've got, even if you are a faggot, I guess I just have to make do."

"Just as I do with you," Nick chuckled. "Well... I guess... thanks, Chuck."

Chuck responded by rolling his eyes, still pretending he wasn't comfortable when he was starting to come around after hearing his brother describing his love for the man he had fallen for.

"See yah." Nick waved then slowly pulled away, watching his brother in the rear view mirror as he shrunk into the distance.

* * *

As soon as he returned home, Nick hung his coat up and dropped his keys on the side, feeling guilty for leaving Greg alone for a whole day. He had already called Grissom from the car to ask him for the night off, as he hadn't yet had any sleep and he was completely exhausted. Luckily Grissom was in a giving mood and decided to let him have the next two days off since they weren't all that busy.

Nick slowly made his way off towards the nursery beside his bedroom, deciding to check on his daughter that he had really missed. Danielle was fast asleep on her side, clutching a small stuffed lamb in her arms as she softly snoozed. Her hair was still up in pigtails that were all messed up on the side she was laying and she was wearing her 'My Daddy loves me' pyjamas that Jean had brought for her last Christmas.

Nick pressed a kiss to his index finger then touched it to her forehead, smiling softly as his little angel continued to soundly sleep just like her father, Greg.

Tiptoeing out of the room, Nick carefully clicked the door shut behind him then made his way into the room next door, shedding his clothing beside the bed before he crawled in beside Greg. The younger man gave out a soft moan as he stirred then opened his eyes surprised as he saw Nick sneaking into the bed beside him.

"Nicky, where have you been?" Rubbing his eyes open, Greg struggled to a sitting position then asked, "Are you cheating on me?"

"No." He protested.

"Then why have you been out for a whole day and night, just crawling into bed at... two am?" Greg snapped as he saw the time. "If you're cheating on me, just tell me now to spare me the heart ache later."

"Honey, I'm not cheatin'." He assured him. "I have a perfectly reasonable explanation."

"I'm waiting." Greg glared at him.

"My brother's in town. After I finished up at the lab, I bumped into him and that guy Kenny from the casino the other month. Me and my brother talked out a lot of our issues."

"Until two am?"

"Well he was drunk, so I had to drive him back to his hotel where he decided to talk to me some more. And his hotel was clear across town, baby. You have no idea how much traffic is on the roads this time of night."

Greg looked at him a moment then reached for the bedside light, gasping as he saw the red mark and split lip on his lover's face. "You talked out a lot of your issues or you punched them out?"

"Greg, I'm fine."

"You're not fine, you're bleeding." Greg reached for a Kleenex tissue to gently dab the blood that had trickled down Nick's chin. "And what do you mean you worked out your issues with him? Does that mean he's not an arrogant asshole about you and me anymore?"

"No, he's the same arrogant asshole." Nick nodded to him. "He was tryin' to be okay with it when I dropped him off at his hotel. And for the record, he only hit me because I hit him first." He clarified then noticed the look in Greg's eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't call you, we were in the heat of a discussion. Was your Mom mad that I wasn't there for the celebration dinner thing?"

"No, I covered for you and said you were working." Greg dropped the bloody tissue into the trashcan, taking a whiff of his fiancé as he gave him a curious look.

"What?" Nick asked.

"You smell like sweat and strippers." Greg pointed out to him. "How did you happen to bump into your brother again?"

"Okay, so I was in a strip club." He admitted to him, unable to lie as Greg gave him the puppy dog expression. "But I didn't look at them or get a lap dance or anything like that." He defended himself. "Why would I when I've got you to come home to?"

"Did Warrick call you to say I was asking around for you?"

"Nope." Nick shook his head.

Greg looked into his partner's eyes, sighing softly, "You're lying."

"I'm not."

"What were you doing in a strip club in the first place then?" Greg queried then grinned as Nick gave him a lost expression as he hadn't really thought his lie through. "Whatever you were doing there, I hope she was worth you not getting laid for the next... week." Greg threatened as he rolled over onto the bed beside him, pulling the covers up to his chest again.

"What?" Nick looked at him surprised. "You're cuttin' me off?"

"Yep." Greg nodded to him. "I can't ground you because one of us has to work and shop, so I'll just have to cut you off from me, unless you decide to tell me the truth that is, but since your little night at the strip club is so _special_ to you, no sex for a week, starting tomorrow."

Nick gave out a soft groan then rested his head on the pillow beside Greg's, watching his lover getting comfortable before he closed his eyes and attempted to get back to sleep. He wanted to tell Greg about the illegitimate child he was looking for; he just didn't want to upset him after everything he had already been through this year. "Hey Greg, can I at least spoon you?" Nick requested, missing his warmth already.

"Nope... go to sleep." Greg rolled further away from him, feeling his tears of betrayal stinging in his eyes as he softly dozed off to sleep.

* * *

**Thanks so much to my beta, Alisa! I hope you lot enjoyed this chapter, and again I'm sorry for the language, but it wouldn't have had the same effect without it :D**

**Thanks so much for reading! Please Review!**

**~ Holly**


	9. Chapter 9: Missing Connection

**Thanks for all of your reviews on the last few chapters.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Missing Connection**

Entering the locker room after a long shift, Warrick sighed softly as he saw Nick sat on the bench with his cell phone pressed against his ear. He watched him curiously a moment as Nick hadn't seen him come in, taking full advantage of his situation to listen in on his phone conversation. "Yeah, I know . . . I'm really sorry about everythin' that happened between us . . . so you'll really let me see her?" Nick spoke softly, none the wiser of Warrick's presence. "Yeah I can meet you there. Two o' clock is fine . . . yep, I got it . . . bye." Nick snapped his phone shut then stuffed the match stick box from his hands into his jeans pocket.

"Nick, what are you doing, bro?" Warrick startled him from the doorway.

"Don't sneak up on people like that, man." Nick scolded him, finishing changing out of his work boots as that was the last dumpster dive of the day.

"Does Greg know about this?" He questioned him, taking a few steps closer towards him.

"Are you spyin' on me now?" Nick accused him as he climbed to his feet, once his laces were tied. "I don't have to tell Greg every little thing I do."

"You do if you're meetin' a girl." Warrick warned him. "You can't do this to Greg, what has he ever done to you to deserve this kind of deceit. I told you, I'm not covering for you anymore..."

"I never asked you to in the first place." The Texan snapped, pushing his locker door shut once he retrieved his jacket. "I'm not doin' anythin' deceitful anyway." He defended himself. "What are you doin' sneakin' around the locker room anyway? You know I don't like bein' spied on."

"I wasn't sneaking around, and you should know better than to have a private conversation in a crime lab. Nothing gets by the people in these walls, which is why you can't keep sneaking around behind Greg's back like this. You're gonna hurt him so much more, if he finds out from someone else what you're doing."

"You have no idea what I _am _doin' anyway, so you can't go judgin' me." Pulling his jacket on over his shoulders, Nick grabbed the keys to his truck and his cell phone off the bench stuffing them into his pockets. "It's not of your business Warrick, and I'm gonna tell Greg everythin'... eventually. I'm not hurtin' anybody by tryin' to figure some things out." He scowled at his nosy friend.

"What are you trying to figure out, Nicky?" Blocking the locker room door with his body, Warrick stopped him from leaving so he could try and reason with him. "Are you trying to decide whether Greg really is the one or not? Because that ship has sailed, bro. You've already got a kid and you proposed to him. That boy is the best thing that's ever happened to you. Don't you dare break his heart." He sternly warned him.

"I'm not. I already know Greg's the one." Pulling Warrick into the locker room, Nick pushed the door shut so he could talk to him in private. "You're not his fuckin' saviour, Warrick. But since you can't keep your nose out of anyone's business, I might as well tell you before you go assumin' that I'm cheatin' on him."

Folding his arms across his chest, Warrick glared at him as he asked, "Aren't you?"

"No, I'd never cheat on him. It wasn't too long ago that I was the one defendin' him from you. You couldn't stand it that your best friend turned out to be a queer and in love with Greg of all people."

"I did not!" He protested, realising they were fighting like a bunch of school girls. "I never used the word, queer. I would never say that about you, Nicky."

"Fine." Nick raised his hands in defeat. "But I'm not cheatin' on Greg. I have another child, and I'm tryin' to find her. I got this girl, Valerie pregnant back in Highschool. I told Greg all about her. And I just found out that she kept the baby and my kids in Highschool now. I was tryin' to find her without hurtin' Greg. He won't understand why I have to find her."

"This is the big secret you're willing to risk your relationship with Greg over?"

"No, I'm not riskin' anythin' because I'm gonna tell him." Nick assured him, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I just don't wonna upset him, because I care about him a lot. Even if you think I don't, I really, really do. He's my world, that's why I didn't wonna upset him by tryin' to find my child after he had just lost one himself."

Warrick blinked his eyes a few times, looking at his friend confused. "That doesn't make any freaking sense, man."

Nick rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up at his sides. "Why am I talkin' to you anyway? You've never had a long term relationship, and you've never lost a child."

Turning for the door, Nick went to storm out, but Warrick grabbed his arm to stop him from leaving. "I'm sorry. You're right. I don't know what it's like to lose a child." He apologised, not wanting them to part on bad terms. "What was the phone call about then? You're meeting your kid or something?"

"No, I'm meetin' Valerie later today to talk about seein' my daughter, and I'll tell Greg about it later."

"Do it before you're worm food, Nicky." He warned him. "Greg would do anything for you, man."

"I know. I'll tell him after I've met with Valerie. If she tells me I can't see her then it's no point in upsettin' Greg. I love Greg, that's why I don't wonna hurt him." Straightening the collar of his jacket, Nick slowly turned for the door again, making his exit towards the elevator so he could go home and crawl into the arms of the one he loved, who loved him in return, unconditionally.

* * *

Sleepily rubbing his eyes open, Greg tilted his head to the side as the rays of sunlight poured in through the window. He looked at the clock beside him, giving out a soft sigh of frustration as it was time to get up already and he felt as though he had barely slept a wink of sleep. Reaching over the side of the bed, Greg stopped the obnoxious alarm clock then collapsed back onto his pillow. He would stay in bed to catch up on some more sleep if he hadn't promised Anne that he would help her out today.

Turning over to search for the warmth of his lover, Greg smiled as he saw Nick fast asleep on the bed beside him. He inched closer to his warmth, deciding to relax in his warm embrace for a moment as he still had a few minutes left to spare before he had to get up. "Greg, don't go back to sleep." Nick sleepily murmured, knowing what Greg was like.

"I wasn't." Greg whispered back, smiling softly as Nick moved to wrap his arms around his waist. "Did you just get back from work?" Nick gave him a slight nod, keeping his eyes firmly clamped shut. "I told you I was going over to Anne's today, right? She's got all six of the boys while her husband's out of town."

"I know." Nick pulled him closer, burying his face into his partner's soft hair. "I love you." He whispered into his ear, snuggling closer. Greg closed his eyes against him, savouring his partner's warmth and strong scent around him. "Are you leavin' Danny here?" He suddenly queried.

"I thought you'd want to sleep and she can play with Freddie if I bring her with me."

"Okay." He sighed softly. "I don't know how I feel about lettin' my daughter play with a bunch of boys, but okay."

Greg giggled softly, pressing a kiss to the protective father's forehead. "These boys range from the age of three to thirteen. I don't think she'll be interested in them. Just for your sake I'll dress her in clothing past the knee." Nick smiled back at him then let him go so he could climb off the bed. "I love you too, baby." Greg whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his partner's forehead. Nick smiled back at him then nestled against the pillow beneath him, dozing right off to sleep from his exhaustion.

Nick remained in bed while Greg scurried off to the bathroom to shower before Danielle woke up, so he had time to get himself ready. Once he was showered and changed, Greg checked Danielle was still fast asleep before he headed off into the kitchen to make them both some breakfast.

Greg hurried back into Danielle's room as he heard her calling out to him. He greeted her with a warm smile, lifting her from her crib to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. "You don't have to cry baby." He whispered softly to her, gently bouncing her in his arms as he carried her over to the changing table to get her dressed and ready, knowing full well that she would drop most of her breakfast down whatever clothes he put her in.

Greg fed her breakfast, trying desperately to not get any food down her clothes before he took her off to Anne's across the street to help out with the menacing boys for a couple of hours and talk to Anne about things he couldn't talk through with his mother or Nick.

Nick stayed fast asleep in bed until noon, showering and changing ready to go and meet Valerie. He left a note for Greg on the counter, telling him he was going grocery shopping so he wouldn't worry about his whereabouts.

"Nick!" A voice called out to him as he entered the small restaurant for lunch.

Nick looked towards the woman that shouted his name, sort of recognising her as his Highschool girlfriend, Valerie. She looked very different from the picture he had seen at 'The Treasure Box' and she looked much older than the Highschool photos he still had of her from their year book, but it was definitely her.

"Hi, Valerie," He greeted her, surprised by her sudden advance to hug him. "Wow, you look..." Nick was searching for words, but the only one he could think of was 'whore'. They were in a posh restaurant in the middle of the day and she was dressed in a leather mini skirt, fish net tights and a low cut, almost see through blouse that showed off more than enough of her implanted chest.

"I know, don't I? They're new. They take some gettin' used to, but it's really helped out with my career." She grinned at him then took her seat. "I can't believe Kenny gave you my number. Not that I was pissed or anythin', I mean I'm not holdin' a grudge or anythin' over what you did. Considerin' the circumstances I woulda done the same thing." She babbled before he had even sat down. "But here we are now, all grown up." She chortled, gazing into his eyes. "So, what have you been doin', you know since Highschool?"

"Um... well I didn't go to law school like my father wanted. Instead I joined the Dallas police force before I joined the crime lab there, but it wasn't far enough away from home for me, so I moved here once a job opportunity opened up."

"That's cool; I heard you got married too." She looked at his hand, not noticing a wedding ring anywhere. "I'm guessin' it didn't work out though. So are you single right now?"

"No, I'm in a relationship." He assured her. "We're gettin' married next year."

"Oh, well congratulations." She smiled then reached into her purse for her cigarettes. "Well I was goin' to get an abortion after you and my parents rejected me. Don't worry though, I never ratted you out to them."

"So... what _did_ you do?" He queried.

"Well I went to one of those abortion clinics where they don't need your parents consent. There were these protestors out there that offered to pay my way, so I could have the baby and give it up for adoption instead." She breathed a puff of smoke into Nick's face before she continued, "It wasn't all it was cracked up to be though. The adoption fell through; the adoptive parents no longer wanted the kid so I got stuck with her." Removing the cigarette from her mouth, Valerie reached into her purse for her keys showing Nick a photo of the baby on a key chain. "She was... seven pounds or somethin'. She had a couple of ear infections as a baby; I was forever takin' her to the hospital."

"What's her name?" Nick queried as he looked at the small baby picture taken over fifteen years ago.

"On her birth certificate its Elizabeth, but she recently informed me that she hates that name, so for now it's Liberty, not officially or anythin'. She just prefers to be referred to as Liberty. Her friends still call her Libby though." Valerie explained, reaching into her purse for a more recent photograph, but she didn't have any. "Here's one of her when she was... eight or nine I think." She held up the crumpled Polaroid. "Not that one in the leopard skin dress." She giggled as Nick widened his eyes. "That's my friend Ruby, the little girl in the braids beside her is Libby. Sorry I didn't bring a more recent one. She would have come with me today to meet you, but apparently she's got some algebra test or somethin' today."

Nick sighed in relief that she was still in school and not working like her mother. "So, how have you been?" He queried, placing the photos of Libby back on the table.

"Fine. I've got three more kids back home, all boys. I live with my friend Ruby; she's got one of her own. Her last husband abused her, so she's back livin' with me again. We split the bills and everythin', we just get by."

Nick gulped hard, thinking that her lifestyle was more his fault then it was her own. "So you didn't marry or anythin'?"

"No, the older boys see their Dad every weekend. He pays child support for them, and he's just recently divorced. He has two other kids with his ex-wife. And the younger boy, I actually have no idea who his father is, but he's only three so he doesn't constantly ask about him like Libby."

Valerie put her cigarette out as the waiter came round, topping up their glasses of water before he took their orders.

Once the waiter was gone, Valerie continued her story, "Libby's been askin' about her father for years now. I never told her about you until you called me though. I didn't think that you'd want anythin' to do with her, and I didn't want to give up her hopes. But I know we were just kids ourselves, we were only two years older than Libby is now, so I really don't hold anythin' against you." She assured him again then giggled as she realised she had been babbling away. "Listen to me jabberin' away, I haven't even asked about you. You're gettin' married soon right, you got kids of your own or are you gonna wait till after?"

"Um... well, we have a daughter." Nick opened his wallet, flipping it over to the picture of Danielle rather than the one of Greg. "She's gonna be three in two months."

"Aw, that's a cute age." Valerie smiled as she looked at the little girl in the picture. "So I bet you're hopin' for a son next, huh? What did your fiancé say when you told her about me and Libby?"

"I... I haven't told em yet." Nick stuffed his wallet back into his jeans, giving her a nervous smile. "We lost a baby a couple of months ago. It's been pretty hard on us since."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologised as she lit up another cigarette. "So whaddya call her?" She abruptly changed the subject. Nick looked up at her confused. "Your daughter, whaddya call her?"

"Oh, Danielle."

* * *

Greg handed Freddie another coloured block, watching the little boy concentrating before he put it in place on the wall of his tower. Freddie's big brother, Joey sat himself down beside Greg, showing him the plane in his hands that made explosive noises when he pushed the button on the tail. "Wow, look at that." Greg smiled to him, admiring the plane for himself.

"Gamma Paula bought it." Five year old Joey pushed the button again once it finished, making gun ship noises with his mouth as he soared the plane through the air above his head.

He was actually quite glad that he got stuck with the little ones rather than the older kids that Anne took with her to the store. The older kids weren't as cute as cuddly as the little ones, they just wanted to run around, scream and play sports. Greg preferred the younger ones who explored the world with their curious little hands.

Greg giggled softly as Danielle suddenly shoved Freddie aside, moaning at him because he hadn't put the next block in the right place. Freddie just stumbled backwards, landing on his bottom while Danielle fixed his flaw.

"Hello, we're back!" Anne called through the house, smiling as she saw Greg sat in the front room with the three little ones. "You guys have fun?"

"Yeah!" Joey immediately shouted, excitedly jumping up and down at Greg's side.

Anne chuckled softly as she ushered her boys into the house with the bags of groceries in their hands. "Oh Greg, I saw Nicky at the store. He said he'll be home in a few minutes, and he said not to make anything because he's got something planned."

"Okay." Greg called after her, watching how helpful the older boys were being now that they had their treats from the grocery store that Anne had promised them if they behaved themselves. Greg stayed a little while longer to help out Anne then collected up Danielle and their things, making his way back across the street towards his house.

As soon as Greg unlocked the front door, the tantalizing scents of spicy chicken invaded his nostrils. He carefully set Danielle down on the floor then dropped his keys onto the side, pushing the front door shut before he made his way off towards the kitchen, smiling as he saw Nick leant over the counter, reading through the recipe book laid out in front of him.

"Dada." Danielle startled him as he waddled around the counter.

"Hey there, baby girl." Nick swept her up into his arms, touching his lips to her forehead before he turned towards Greg, giving him a wide smile. "Before you say anythin', you could at least taste it. I'm not that bad at cookin'. Not this time hopefully. Its chicken curry, your Mom says even idiots can make chicken curry."

"Okay." Greg grinned softly then leant forwards to press a kiss to Nick's lips. "You smell like cigarettes."

"Yeah, there was this woman smokin' in line at Costco." He explained, deciding to tell him about Valerie and his other daughter later. "Can't get anythin' past you, CSI Sanders." He snickered softly, handing Danielle over to him so he could get on with the cooking. "It'll be ready soon. Oh and I got Danielle some of those turkey roll up things, along with some fresh vegetables. It's sittin' in the microwave if you wonna give it to her now." He pointed.

"Uh oh, Daddy cooked your dinner too." Greg teased him as he carried Danielle round the counter to sit her down in her high chair.

"All I did was heat the turkey things and cut a few vegetables." Nick defended himself, gently tickling Greg's sides as he stepped by him. Nick pulled his partner into his arms, assaulting his neck with kisses for teasing him about his cooking again. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?" He rasped against his neck.

"I know." Greg nodded to him, leaning back into his embrace. "I love you too."

* * *

Once everyone had finished the lovingly prepared dinners Nick had made for them, Greg took Danielle off for her bath while Nick cleared everything away. He helped Greg to put their daughter to bed once he was done, then led Greg off towards the front room as he desperately needed to talk to him before they went to bed. "Nicky, what is it?" Greg asked concerned as the older man practically dragged him to the couch.

"I need to talk to you for a second." Nick dropped onto the sofa cushions of the sofa, tugging Greg down with him. "I shoulda told you sooner, and I apologise in advance if this upsets you, but I can't keep it from you any longer." Greg gave him a quizzical look, wondering what he could have been hiding from him in the first place. "First of all, it's nothin' to do with us, so don't go worryin' yourself. I haven't been cheatin' on you, and I'm never leavin' you. You'll have to try a lot harder to get rid of me."

Fearfully biting his lower lip, Greg asked, "What is it then?"

Turning completely on the sofa to face his partner, Nick softly explained, "You remember my Highschool girlfriend, Valerie that I got pregnant when I was seventeen?" Greg gave him a slight nod. "Well before we went to Texas for Gwen's baptism thing, I found out that she actually had the baby, our baby. Not only that, but she's livin' right here in Vegas."

"She is?" Greg looked at him surprised. "So... what are you trying to tell me?"

"Well, the other night when I went to that strip club and found my brother, I was actually searchin' for Valerie then. She works there, but instead I bumped into my brother. I didn't wonna tell you then until I was sure it was her, and I didn't think that you'd understand why I needed to find her."

"And?" Greg asked, gulping down the lump in his throat.

"And I found her." He admitted. "I got her phone number and called her up. I met her for lunch today to talk about the kid we have. And I have a teenage daughter. Her names Libby." He explained to him then nervously looked into Greg's eyes to see his reaction. "You know I'm a CSI, Greg. I had to get all the facts straight before I presented my case to you."

Greg stared at him a moment then punched him in the arm. "Asshole. You think I wouldn't understand that? May I remind you I've lost two babies in my lifetime? You think I wouldn't give anything in the world to meet them? I would have understood if you had just told me, Nick. Instead of making me think that you're running off to some whore every time you disappear."

"I'm sorry, Greg. I didn't mean it like that." Nick apologised. "I didn't wonna upset you. I was tryin' not to hurt you by tryin' to find her, but apparently I only ended up doin' it anyway."

"Because you made me think that I had trapped you with a baby when you really wanted to be off with a woman." Greg argued. "It can't be easy for you being with me, Nick. My family all accepts me and loves us all no matter what, while your family have practically kicked you out. They've done everything but strip you of the family name."

"I don't care about that. This is my family here. Do you think I'd be plannin' to have another baby with you if I was just gonna cheat on you with another woman?"

"I don't know. The Nicky I know hates being lied to, so you'd think he'd offer the same courtesy to the man he's spending the rest of his life with." Greg pointed out to him, folding his arms across his chest as he leant back against the sofa cushions. "So this is what you've been doing, just trying to find this Valerie and Libby?" Nick nodded to him. "You know you're an idiot for not telling me, right?"

Nick nodded again. "I realise that now from how well you took it. I'm sorry I kept it from you. I just had to be sure. I hate hurtin' you, that's why I didn't wonna tell you. I thought it would hurt you more if you knew I was searchin' for her after we lost our own."

"After losing a child, it's only natural that you'd want to find the one you lost years ago." Greg assured him. "You're not keeping anything else from me are you?" Nick shook his head. "Cross your heart?"

"I promise." Nick leant closer, gently brushing his thumb across Greg's chin. "Cross my heart, Greg. I'm not lyin' about anythin' else." Nick crossed his heart with his finger as Greg looked him in the eye. "Valerie's gonna talk to Libby tonight and ask her if she wants to meet me, tomorrow after school. I won't do it if you don't want me to though."

"I'm not gonna stop you from seeing your daughter, Nick."

"Okay." Nick gave him a slight smile as he feathered his fingertips down his partner's cheek. "I'm so sorry I hurt you, baby. I may be a little jealous of your family, but I would never hurt you."

"Don't do it again." Greg warned him, pecking a kiss to his lips. "You can tell me anything, Nick. If you want to meet your daughter, that's fine by me. You'd let me do the same, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded, lifting Greg's hands from his lap. "I would because I love you."

"Good." Greg leant forwards to hug him, holding him tightly in his arms. "So what's Valerie like anyway?"

"Picture a thirty two year old stripper with four kids, she lives with her stripper friend Ruby, and she smokes like a freakin' chimney. She's completely different from the girl I used to know. I can't help but think that's my fault though."

"It's not your fault, Nicky." Gently smoothing his hands up and down Nick's back, Greg pulled him closer, whispering, "You still smell like cigarettes, so you lied to me again." He smirked softly. "There was no smoking lady at the store was there?"

Nick shook his head. "I'm sorry. I know that's pretty much a broken record..."

"I forgive you, just don't do it again." Greg warned him. "Nicky, I want you to be happy. Hopefully with me, but I wouldn't stop you from seeing your own daughter. I'd give anything to see the children I lost, so I'm not gonna stop you from seeing yours."

"I am happy with you." Nick moved his legs to straddle the younger man's thighs, pressing their lips together. "That's why we have to get a baby in that belly now that I'm off suspension from your entrance, right?" He cheekily grinned.

"Oh, is that what the dinner was for? You were trying to soften me up?" Greg giggled as he collapsed back onto the sofa behind him. "Good effort, Stokes. But I'm exhausted so you'll have to do all the work yourself."

"Done, you could at least give me a challenge, Sanders." The older man playfully wiggled his eyebrows then fumbled with the buckle of Greg's belt, slowly working open his jeans. "So you don't hate me, not even a little bit for lyin' about..."

"Nope." Greg interrupted him. "I'd love to see how you're gonna make it up to me though. I might need a lot more convincing then dinner and sex."

"That I can do. Romantic _is_ my middle name." Nick chuckled softly as he advanced on his lover's lips, caressing his hands across the smooth skin beneath his boyfriend's clothes.

"Really, I thought it was Parker. Or were you lying about that too?" Greg giggled, wrapping his arms around his partner's back.

"You know what I meant." Nick chortled, pushing Greg's t-shirt up his chest. "I'm so glad I ended up here with you. I don't think I could stand livin' my life with Valerie. I never even liked her that much back in school. She's even worse now."

Greg returned his smile then lifted his hips as Nick tugged down his jeans and boxers. "When you talk about old girlfriends, it kinda kills the mood, Nicky." He teased him.

"I'm sorry." Tugging Greg's t-shirt up over his head, Nick discarded it to the floor then pressed an open mouthed kiss to the centre of his slender chest. "I was just sayin' that I'm so happy with you, Greg." He whispered, gliding soft kisses across each of his partner's ribs, before he circled his tongue around the younger man's navel, electing a giggle from the younger man's lips. Nick delicately traced his fingertips across the scar just beneath Greg's belly button, giving the younger man a soft smile as he looked up at him. "I really love you, G."

"I know. Now would you get on with it already, Mr Sappy Romantic."

Nick laughed softly then crawled up his chest to join their lips together, helping Greg to unbutton his shirt and remove his jeans, building both of their pleasures by the second. It wasn't long before Greg gave out a soft moan, mumbling Nick's name as the surge of ecstasy shuddered its way through his body.

* * *

After spending the next morning building Lego brick houses, playing with cuddly toys and drawing with his two year old daughter, Nick met Valerie outside of her second job at a restaurant so he could go and spend time with his fifteen year old daughter. He was really nervous about meeting her, but he was really anxious to finally get to see what she looked like and how she was doing now that he had finally found her.

"Ugh, I'm late on the damn rent again." Valerie groaned as she led Nick into the house with the post in her hands. "Excuse the mess, Nick. We haven't exactly... had a good tidy up in a while." She grinned round at him as she led him through to the kitchen. "That's Roxy and Harley." She pointed to the two Rottweiler's that rushed through the kitchen door to greet him. "Relax, they don't bite." She assured him. "Everyone else who we let in here always thinks the dogs are gonna bite just coz of their rep."

Nick nodded to amuse her as he gently patted each of the dog's heads. "So, where's Libby?" He queried.

"School, she'll be home any second. She gets the bus." Valerie cleared away the plates still left on the counter then opened up the back door to let the dogs out into the yard. "Do you wonna drink or anythin' while you wait? I told her to be early for you, but you never can tell with kids."

"No, I'm fine." He assured her, not wanting to eat or drink anything from her kitchen. "So you told Libby about this, and she's okay with it?"

"Yeah, she wants to meet you, Nick." Valerie removed her jacket, revealing the tiny t-shirt she was wearing that barely covered her chest. Nick still hadn't seen his daughter, but he was hoping that she was nothing like her mother. "She wasn't too thrilled when I told her you were gettin' married with a kid of your own though. She's always wanted a Daddy and she always wanted to be the most important girl in his life like those dumb Hollywood movies she watches." She laughed as she lit up a cigarette in her hands. "Did you tell your fiancé about us yet?"

Nick went to answer when the front door suddenly opened and the dogs started barking, rushing through the house to greet whoever it was. "Libby, that you?" Valerie called through the house.

"Yep." A young girl's voice called back to her as she fought with the dogs to get the front door shut.

"Lib's, your father's here. Come meet him!" Valerie shouted back to her, almost deafening Nick from the pitch of her voice. Valerie stepped into the hall, ushering her daughter into the kitchen to finally meet her father. "Libby, this is Nick, your father. Nick, this is Libby, your daughter." She chuckled softly to herself. "Hopefully this won't turn out like one of them Jerry Springer shows."

Nick nodded to amuse her again, then looked at the young girl surprised. She wasn't at all what he was expecting. Libby's dark brown hair was up in a messy bun beneath a black cap; leaving two strands either side of her head to frame her face. She was wearing an army print baggy t-shirt with a hooded tartan zip front sweatshirt and black baggy jeans. Her eyes and hair colour was just the same as his, but she had more of her mother's slender features on her face.

"No hats indoors, Lib." Valerie lifted the cap from her daughter's head, catching an angry scowl from her for messing up her hair before she disappeared into the hall to give them some time to greet each other, but neither of them knew what to say.

Deciding to break the deafening silence, Libby stepped forwards, giving the man a curious look. "Are you really my Dad?" She queried, revealing the metal covering her teeth.

"Yeah." Nick nodded to her.

"You're from Texas aren't you?" She asked next, stuffing her hands into her jeans pockets.

"Yeah, I'm from Dallas. I went to school with your Mom." He nodded, doing the same.

"I know, she told me the story. She never mentioned your name until yesterday though." Libby turned her head as her mother walked back into the room, breathing her cigarette smoke all over her. "Second hand smoke kills, Mom." She coughed, waving her hand in front of her face.

"You can't believe everythin' you see on TV." Valerie laughed at her. "Did you get that A?"

"B minus."

"Well that sucks. I read your paper, it was A worthy." Valerie disposed of her cigarette then looked towards Nick. "Libby, can you take your school stuff to your room then maybe you two can go out for dinner or somethin'? The boys will be back soon then you'll never get the chance to talk."

"Uh... sure," Nick nodded to her then looked at Libby's hesitant reaction. "If that's alright with you, Libby."

"Sure. But I'm not callin' you, Daddy." She warned him then grabbed her black cap, scowling at her mother as she made her way out of the room to take her school bag upstairs to her room. Nick decided to wait for her at the bottom of the stairs rather than the kitchen that was slowly filling up with smoke from the next cigarette she decided to light.

Libby slowly made her way back down the stairs a few minutes later, stuffing her hands deep into her pockets as she slowly approached Nick. "Are you all set?" Valerie asked her then turned to look at Nick once her daughter gave her a slight nod. "Here's the number to the house, Nick. She's not allergic to anythin' so you can pretty much go anywhere."

"Mom, he's not my babysitter." Libby scowled at her.

"Okay." Valerie raised her hands either side of her body, not wanting to get into another argument with her. "I'll see you later." Valerie pulled the front door open for them, waving them off. "Have Fun!" She called after them.

* * *

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing this for me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know what you thought of it!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~ Holly**


	10. Chapter 10: Father Figure

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing this for me!**

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Father Figure**

Making his way down the stairs after changing for dinner, Daniel smiled as he saw his son fast asleep on the sofa. Daniel grabbed the blanket from the back of the sofa, carefully laying it out across his son's body to keep him warm while he slept. Jean smiled from the doorway, as she watched her husband pressing a kiss to their son's forehead before he made his way out of the room and smiled back at his wife. "What?" He asked, catching her watching him.

"Nothing." She grinned back at him, reaching out for his hand then led him off towards the kitchen. "I was just thinking that you would make a really good father to another little son or maybe even a daughter." Jean lifted the letter she had opened from the counter, giving him a wide smile as she handed it over to him. "We've got a meeting just before thanksgiving. They sent us an information packet and everything. They'll do background checks, and we'll be assigned an adoption social worker who will make home visits and make a home study of our lives. It says here that it can take from three to six months to complete... but the wait for a baby is nine, so I suppose it's not that different." Jean handed him the information packet, watching his eyes lighting up as he looked through it all. "Once we're approved, we get sent different profiles on all the children they have in the foster care system. Then we can start to have pre-placement visits, where they spend one or two days with us a week to see if we're suitable for each other. Then the child moves in for a short time, until the court date when it's all legalised." She excitedly giggled.

"What's the background checks for?" He queried, perching himself against the edge of the table.

"Just to make sure we're not some crazy cult or something. Trust me, there's no way we can screw that part up."

"Unless you go into one of your talking fits and reveal all the gory details of the Sanders' life to them." He teased her, dropping into the seat beside him as Jean took the information packet back from his hands. "I was teasing, honey. I just can't believe it's all happening so fast. Granted we'll probably have to wait a while for everything to fall through, but it's still pretty fast."

"You're not changing your mind, are you?" Fearing her dreams of having more children were slipping through her fingers, Jean placed her hands on his shoulders, looking her husband in the eye. "I told you I didn't want to do this without you. You don't have to do this just because of me, Daniel. I told you that I didn't want to push you into anything, and I meant it. If you're happy with the one amazing child we've got, then I'm happy too."

"I'm not changing my mind." Daniel assured her. "And Greg will always be my favourite. Even if I wasn't the best father to him, he'll always be my favourite because he was the first."

"You're the best father in the world to Greg." Jean pecked a kiss to his forehead then returned to the kitchen to grab the food she had prepared. "Even when you weren't around, Greg worshipped you. He was always trying to make you proud by winning the science fair and things. He always got upset when he didn't win, because he wouldn't have the proof to show you how well he did when you got home. He said that if he didn't have anything to show for it then it was like it never happened and you wouldn't be proud of him."

"He did?" Daniel looked at her surprised, feeling even worse. "I never wanted to be one of those parents that put too much pressure on their kids to succeed. I was happy with whatever he did."

"Don't worry; he learnt that in his later years of Highschool." She smiled at him, setting the pot roast on the table beside him. "You accepted his boyfriend and the fact that your son can get pregnant. How many fathers in the world would accept that from their sons? And Greg still worships you anyway. You'd think he'd have worshipped his mother, since I was always around supporting him." She giggled as she took a seat beside him. "But he always worshipped you. You're a great father to him."

Daniel smiled at her, as she dished out a portion of the food on the table onto his plate. "Speaking of fathers, how do you think Nick's doing with his teenage daughter?" He remembered Greg telling them all about it, as soon as he came over.

"We'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out." Jean expected a full report from her son tomorrow, when she received his usual phone call. "Where did I put the baby?" She suddenly gasped as she had completely forgotten about her during the preparation of dinner.

"Relax honey, she's asleep." Daniel smiled softly at how panicked his wife got in just a few seconds. "After you fed her I put her down for her nap, remember?"

"Oh, that's right." She sighed in relief, placing her hand over her hammering heart. "I can't believe I forgot about her. Greg would seriously kill me if I lost her. Nicky would probably put me in an early grave too. That's the only bad thing about having a hick for a son in law." She giggled softly.

* * *

"I get my braces off July next year, then I can eat all the sweets and candy I like." Libby giggled as her father held the outside door open for her. "Before I got my braces I was a total bubble gum junky, but I haven't been able to have any since, because it sticks to your braces. Did you ever have braces?"

"Nope." Nick shook his head, smiling as Libby really knew how to carry a conversation. She hadn't stopped talking since they sat down to dinner, and she was still going.

"My Mom didn't either, so I couldn't have inherited that from either of you. You're clearly not a big talker either, so I didn't get that from you. My Mom talks a lot, but I don't ramble as much as her do I?" Libby laughed at herself, awkwardly stuffing her hands into her pockets, as she walked alongside her father. "It's because I'm nervous. I was nervous during this debate at school once and I went completely off the debate subject just rambling about loads and loads of random things."

"No, you don't ramble too much." He chuckled softly. "Believe me; I know bigger ramblers then you."

"Cool. So if you don't live with a woman then you must be gay, right?" Nick's daughter bluntly asked him. "Sorry, my Mom said you were getting married, and since you said earlier that you didn't have a girlfriend. I figured your fiancé must be a he, right?" Libby queried, licking the chocolate ice cream from her lips as she adjusted the sticky cone in her hands. "I don't care if you are gay, Nick... for the record. I have a mother who strips for married men, sleeps in a bed with another woman, and she's constantly telling me that they're just friends as if I'm stupid or something. Not to mention the three brothers I have from different fathers. A gay father would be a step up." She smirked.

"Well, yeah I am." Nick nodded to her, showing her the picture from his wallet. "That's Greg, and that's Danielle."

"Cool. Your boyfriend's pretty cute." She grinned at him then realised how weird it was to say that about her father's boyfriend. "Sorry, that's kinda weird to say since he's sorta a step father figure. How old is Danielle?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Two. She'll be three in December."

"I've always kinda wanted a baby sister. I kept getting little brothers though." Libby stopped at the next bench, sitting down on the seat back with her feet on the base of the chair. "I suppose you know what that's like, you've got five sisters and one brother haven't you?"

"Yeah, I always wanted another brother or somethin' too. My big brother Chuck is twelve years older than me, and we've never exactly been close." As the sleeve of Libby's sweatshirt fell back to her elbow, Nick looked at the large scar there, immediately fearing the worst. "How'd you get that?"

"Oh, ice skating accident." She quickly explained as she saw his surprised reaction. "I took lessons when I was ten." Libby slid her finger across the large scar on her forearm. "One of the other skaters, this really snobby girl named Vicki or Vanessa... something like that. She threw a skate at me and it left a mark."

"Ouch."

"It didn't hurt that much. I broke my leg in two places once horse riding. That hurt so much more." She cringed as she remembered the pain. "I used to want to be a pro skater when I was little. I loved skating. I used to go roller blading too, but I don't have any blades anymore. We couldn't afford anymore ice skating lessons either, so I had to give it up. I'm kinda glad I did now though, because there's this girl at my school that professionally ice skates and she never gets any free time to herself. Her mother is a washed out skater or something, she's one of those parents trying to live her dream out through her child instead. There tons of kids like that at my school. I'm lucky that my mother doesn't really give a crap what I do. She just won't pay my way." Libby groaned then licked the dripping ice cream from her wrist, smiling towards Nick as he offered her a fresh Kleenex tissue to hold it in. "Thanks. So was I not what you expected? When my Mom tells people she has a daughter they naturally assume I'm a slut like her."

"I didn't think you'd be a... like her." Nick smiled at her then took a seat on the bench, feeling a little less awkward after the long talk they had over burgers and fries before he bought her an ice cream. "I feel kinda awkward meetin' you when you're so grown up though. I didn't know you existed until a couple of weeks ago."

"Were you expecting something more along the lines of that film 'What a Girl Wants' with that Amanda Bynes?" She queried.

Nick raised one of his eyebrows to her then shook his head. "I've never seen that... and I have no idea who, Amanda Bynes is."

Libby giggled softly as she slid down the bench to sit beside him. "The films about this girl who never had a father growing up. Her mother's like a wedding singer or something, and this girl Daphne always resents the father daughter dance at these weddings she caters for while her mother's singing. So Daphne decides to travel all the way across the world to London to meet her father, who's played by Colin Firth. You know who he is, right?" Nick gave her a slight nod as he thought he knew who he was. "Well Colin Firth's character never knew that Daphne even existed, until she flies over there to drop a surprise visit on him. It all works out in the end, but that's just dumb Hollywood fairytale movies."

"Yeah, they all seem to work out in the end." He nodded to her. "I'll have to rent the movie sometime."

"It's a total teenage girly flick, you might not like it. I didn't like it that much. I prefer gory zombie movies, like that George Romero or the Final Destination movies with all that gore. I love gory movies. My Mom hates them. She always screams at the first sight of blood." She laughed as she pulled her knees up to her chest. "You're a CSI aren't you?" She suddenly remembered her mother telling her that. "That's like cop work isn't it?"

"Close enough." He nodded to her. "The evidence we collect from a crime scene solves more crimes then the cops alone ever did. We work on givin' the victim justice, while the cops try and get their conviction."

"Does that mean you get to see lots of dead bodies?" She queried, wiping her sticky hand with the tissue he had given her.

Nick gave her a slight smile, then nodded his head. "Yeah, not every crime scene has a dead body though."

"I've seen a dead body before. He looked all fake and plastic though. It was my Mom's father; he had an open casket at his funeral." Libby turned on the bench to face him, sitting cross legged as she finished off the last of her ice cream. "I didn't know him before his funeral, so it was hard to feel anything. Is that what it's like for you at the crime scenes with all those dead bodies? You see it on TV all the time where they feel nothing for the bloody corpse in the middle of the room..."

"Yeah, it's kinda like that." He admitted. "But as we get to know the victims and more about their lives it's harder to deal with."

"It sounds pretty cool, not the dead bodies part obviously. But I mean to work a job where you're involved in the last day of people's lives." She corrected herself as she brushed her hair back behind her ears. "It's so much better than my mother's job of taking her clothes off for a living, anyway. At least now when people ask about my parents I can say my Dad's a CSI."

"I thought you said you weren't gonna call me Dad." Nick caught her out.

"I'm not." Libby smiled back at him, resting on her elbow against the back of the bench. "So you're a CSI, you have a cute boyfriend and another daughter, what else should I know since we practically share DNA?"

Nick gave her a smile as he turned sideways on the bench to face her. "Well, what do you wonna know?"

* * *

"Good Morning, sleepy head." Jean chuckled softly as her son sleeping stumbled into the room. Greg gave her a slight smile as he dropped onto one of the stools around the counter. "We saved you some dinner if you're hungry, sweetheart."

"What is it?" He queried, resting his chin in his hands.

"Pot roast, I can heat it up if you want." Jean reached into the fridge for the left over's, filling a plate up for Greg. She grabbed a knife and fork for him then set it down in front of him, leaning against the counter as she looked into his sleepy eyes. "Everything alright with you and Nick?"

"Yeah." Greg picked up his knife and fork, giving his mother a curious look. "Why?"

"Because you look exhausted." She pointed out to him. "You haven't had any energy the past few days, and for the first time in your life you're actually quiet."

Greg smiled up at her. "I _can_ be quiet and not have anything wrong with me."

"Maybe you're pregnant?" She suggested, giving him a soft smile as he looked at her surprised. "When I was pregnant with you, I was completely exhausted throughout my first trimester. I'd just crash and sleep anywhere for hours on end, even if I had a full night's sleep."

"I'm not pregnant."

"How do you know for sure?" She queried, pulling up a seat opposite him.

"Because I took a test, and it was negative. It's always negative." Greg stuffed a carrot into his mouth, slowly casting his eyes up towards his mother. "What?"

"You realise you have to wait some time after the sex before you can tell if you're pregnant, sweetheart. Do you feel queasy?" Greg shook his head. "No morning sickness or anything?" He shook his head again. "What about tingly nipples?"

Greg frowned at her, dropping his fork to his plate. "I'm not discussing that with you."

"Well are they?" She asked, chuckling softly as she saw her son's discomfort. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetheart. It's the first stage of your hormones kicking in. You may also feel some cramping and increasingly tender breasts. Maybe you should go and see a doctor, honey? Pregnancy tests aren't always one hundred percent you know."

"Okay, I'll do it later." Greg assured her as he lifted his fork from the plate again. "Where's Dad?"

"With Danielle upstairs," She pointed across the hall. "He was reading to her last I checked. She ate all her dinner for once. I recon she's gonna be an early reader like you. She was trying to copy what your father was saying while he was reading to her."

"I know, she does it with Nicky." Greg smiled at her. "He's been reading all these books about children who learn to read quicker if they're read to at a young age and stuff like that. He was even teaching her some of that baby sign language stuff."

"Why would he want to teach her that?" She asked, confused.

"Because babies can't always ask for the things they want. She got the hang of the yes and thank you ones, but she can't quite master the others." Greg flicked a pea around his plate then dropped his fork again, resting his chin in his hands.

"Change of appetite, that's another symptom." Jean grinned across the counter at him then looked towards the door, as her husband returned. "Is she sleeping?"

"Out like a light." Daniel nodded, gently ruffling his son's hair as he leant against the counter beside him. "You're finally awake I see. What's another symptom?" He inquired, looking between the two of them.

"Mom, no." Greg warned her.

"If I don't tell him now, I'll only end up telling him once you've gone." Jean giggled. "He might be pregnant again." She blurted to her husband. "The test was negative, but he's got all the symptoms."

"Have not." Greg pushed his plate away from him then climbed to his feet. "I'm going home now before Nicky gets back."

"Don't drive while you're tired, honey." Jean called after him.

"I'll drive him." Daniel grabbed his car keys off the side table, then followed Greg off up the stairs to help him pack up Danielle's things. He transferred the baby seat from the back of Greg's car to his own then drove the both of them back to their house, helping his son into the house before he returned home.

* * *

Nick dropped Libby off back at her mother's, leaving it up to her to decide if she wanted to see him again. He made his way back home to Greg, carefully tiptoeing through the house so he wouldn't wake anybody up. He headed straight to the bathroom to brush his teeth then made his way into the bedroom, smiling as he saw Greg sprawled out across the middle of the bed. Nick quietly started to undress himself, giving his partner a soft smile as he fluttered his eyes open. "Hey baby, go back to sleep." He whispered, crawling onto the bed beside him.

"How was it?" Greg sleepily asked, rolling over to face his fiancé.

"Doncha want me to tell you in the mornin'?" He suggested as he saw how tired he was.

"No, tell me now." Greg pulled him closer, grinning up at him as his partner lay his warm body right against him. "So, how'd it go?" He asked again.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." Nick moved to straddle his boyfriend's hips, pressing a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth. "She's nothin' like what I expected. She's not a cheerleader. She's nothin' like her mother. In a way she kinda reminds me of you."

"How?" Greg queried, giving his partner a smile as he pressed a kiss to his jaw.

"Because she has her own identity, just like you do. She doesn't follow a crowd and she's not some slut in a mini skirt like I was expectin' from Valerie. We talked about movies, music, even about you." Greg looked up at him surprised. "I thought she should know since you're a big part of my life, and she's totally okay with you." Nick assured him, joining their lips for a passionate kiss.

"Mmmm," Greg purred, feeling butterflies swimming in his stomach as Nick pressed his firm body into his own. "So what are you gonna do now, see her every couple of days or so?" He asked, getting back on subject.

"I don't know. I left it up to her." Nick slid his hands beneath Greg's t-shirt he was wearing, caressing the smooth skin beneath it. "I don't wonna force her to see me. She's got a lot to deal with at home at the moment, not to mention the fact that she's a teenage girl. I remember my sisters at that age and they were pretty scary."

Greg snickered softly, wrapping his arms around his horny fiancés body. "Well one of those scary girls happens to be your daughter, and you're gonna get another one in about twelve years or so." He reminded him.

"I have time to get used to her." Nick smiled down at him then heard her crying as he leant in for another kiss. "I'll get her." Pecking a quick kiss to his fiancés lips, Nick gave him a wide smile then climbed off the bed and made his way off into the room next door to see what was wrong with his baby girl.

As soon as Nick lifted his baby girl into his arms, she stopped her crying, appreciating the warmth of her father's arms wrapped around her. Nick pressed gentle kisses to the tears on her cheeks, rocking her in his arms to calm her down.

Greg waited for Nick to return to him for a few minutes, before he decided to go look for him. He stepped into Danielle's room, smiling as he saw Nick sat on the chair beside her cot with his baby in his arms, wrapped in her blanket as she soundly slept in his embrace. "You used to do that every night when you got home late from the lab." He whispered softly as he tiptoed towards him.

"Because I miss her." Nick gently lifted his index finger, showing him their daughter's tight grip around his finger. "I would have come back to you, but I kinda got held up."

"I'm used to getting dumped with this little cutie around." Greg smiled softly, kneeling down in front of him. "She's just so much prettier than me; even my own mother dumps me over her."

"Uh oh, jealous only child alert." Nick teased his younger lover.

"I'm not jealous." Greg assured him, gently brushing Danielle's fringe from her forehead. "I could never be jealous of her. We'll just have to learn to share you." He giggled softly. "Oh and Nicky, what are you doing this Thursday?"

"Why?" He queried, giving him a confused look.

"I have a doctor's appointment." Greg subtly told him, smiling softly as Nick looked at him surprised. "I'm not positive since the test was negative the last time I checked..."

"But you might be?" A smile of excitement spread across the Texan's lips as he looked into the younger man's eyes. "Wow."

"Don't get too excited though." Greg quickly warned him. "It might not be positive."

"You have to _think_ positive, baby." Nick spoke softly, finally getting his finger free from Danielle's grip. "And I'm not doin' anythin' on Thursday, so I'm all yours." He assured him as he carefully lifted Danielle higher into his arms so he could lay her down in her crib.

Nick pressed a kiss to his finger then touched it to her forehead then led Greg off into the other room by his hand, crashing onto the bed with him in his arms. "You know I really love bein' part of somethin' for a change." Nick whispered against his partner's neck, spooning his slender body tightly. "I wish I had been there for Libby more when she was growin' up, but then I probably wouldn't have met you and have this great life with you. I feel guilty for wantin' this life with you more though."

"Part of what?" Greg suddenly queried, reclining back into his partner's warm embrace.

"Part of a family, G. I actually feel as though I finally belong to somethin'." Nick smiled down at his fiancé in his arms. "I think I can work this... absent father thing out with Libby. She's real easy to get along with, so I know she'll love you. She was really excited to find out she has... a half sister. It didn't feel as though I just met her today. I felt as though I had known her for years."

"Do you think she'll wonna see you again?"

"I hope so." Nick nodded. "If she does I'll take her ice skatin' or somethin'. That'll win me some Daddy points. She hasn't been since she was ten and she said she loved it."

"But you can't ice skate." Greg giggled, remembering their date last year when Nick spent more time on his ass then on the skates. "But hey, if you embarrass her in front of a whole crowd of people, you'll be half way to the father of the year award." Greg teased him then gently pecked a kiss to his jaw line. "I'm glad you found her, Nicky. And you really _do_ belong here." Greg turned in his arms so they were face to face. "You'll always belong here with me."

* * *

As soon as Nick had dropped Libby off back home, she headed straight for her bedroom, ignoring the disturbing make out session between the married man, Ruby and her mother and on the couch. She crashed onto her bed, covering her hands over her ears so she couldn't hear their laughs or their moans, wishing she could live with her father rather than in this hell hole.

Once her mother's special friend left to return to his wife and children, Valerie made her way up the stairs to check on her daughter. She barged straight into her room without knocking, making her daughter angrily scowl at her from her bed. "So, how'd it go, honey?"

"What do you care?" The teen replied, avoiding direct eye contact with her.

"All I asked was how it went." Valerie defended herself, glaring at her daughter across the room.

"Why, so you can ask him for child support?"

"No, and I wouldn't ask you to do that on the first day of meetin' him anyway. I'd let you get to know him a bit before we asked for the child support. I don't know why you're gettin' all bitchy on me again, young lady." She snapped at her, lighting up a cigarette in her hands. "I just wanted to know how it went."

"Okay." Libby shrugged, staring at the poster of 'Three Days Grace' on the ceiling above her bed.

"Just okay?" Valerie queried, giving out a deep throaty cough from the fumes of her cigarette. "Did you find out who he's marryin'?"

"Yes, and there's no way you can split them up to get your greedy skank hands on him." Libby quickly warned her, casting her a look. "Why did you agree to let me see him if you only wanted him so he could pay for your next boob job?"

"We need that money to live!" Valerie shouted back at her. "He's your father. He _has_ to pay for you. He's legally obligated."

"He's not. You spent the cheque from Cameron's father on your freaking tits. How did that help us in any way?" Libby asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I finally found my father and you just wonna use him as your own personal banker. Can you care about my feelings for once in your stupid whorish life?"

"Don't talk to me like that!" Valerie warned her. "I had to get the boob job because you kids train wrecked my body. No one wants to see a saggy old hag on the stage of a strip joint. I'm barely gettin' enough money as it is now I'm in my thirties."

"That's because middle aged sluts are pathetic."

"I don't know why I ever bother. I should have aborted you when I had the chance." Valerie slammed her daughter's bedroom door shut, cursing like a sailor as she made her way back down the stairs to grab a beer from the fridge.

"I wish you had!" Libby shouted to her bedroom door, before she collapsed back onto her bed, clutching her pillow tightly as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

* * *

**There it is, I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Thanks so much for reading, please let me know what you think!**

**~ Holly**


	11. Chapter 11: I won't Let Go

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing!**

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: I Won't Let Go**

After finally closing his case from hell, Nick decided to stop by the hospital to check on his live victims, before he headed home. It was very rare to actually be able to close a case involving three live victims, so he had to check on the Thomas family before he left. Miss Elena Thomas and her two children were attacked by the new man in Elena's life. She left her children alone with a man she had just met then returned from work to find him in the bedroom with her twin seven year old girls.

"Mr Stokes, what am I supposed to tell my babies?" The woman sobbed, lightly dabbing her bruised cheeks with the Kleenex tissue he had given her to wipe away her tears. "What am I supposed to tell them . . . when they ask me . . . why this ha-happened to them?" Her voice flooded with more emotion, making a single tear roll down Nick's cheek. "It's my fault, isn't it? I let him in."

"No." Nick wiped the tear from his cheek with his palm, shaking his head at her. "It's not your fault, Elena. You didn't do anythin'... wrong." Gulping hard, Nick attempted to swallow his own emotions to stop them from exploding to the surface before he whispered, "It's not your fault."

Catherine gently tapped Nick on the shoulder, giving him a soft smile as he turned to look at her. "Miss Thomas, your children are going away with child services..."

"You can't take them from me." Elena Thomas interrupted her. "I didn't do anything. You see all this," She indicated towards the stitches and bruises on her face. "He beat me to a bloody pulp for defending my kids. I'm not letting you take them from me too."

"Miss Thomas, it's just until..."

"No!" She refused, cutting Catherine off again as she swept back the covers from her legs so she could climb out of the bed.

"Elena, it's just for a little while." Nick tried to stop her, but she pulled the IV from her arm as she struggled out of her bed then attempted to make her way off down the hall to see her children.

"Doctor!" Catherine called down the hall as the woman stumbled to her knees from her injuries. "Miss Thomas, you'll be able to see your kids soon enough. It's just until you get better." Catherine tried to reason with her, as she fought against the doctors and nurses, restraining her, struggling to get her back into bed.

Nick stood back at the door, watching the mother in distress being held down in her bed while one of the nurses administered something to calm her down. He watched Catherine talking to one of the doctors then whirled around, giving up on the whole situation altogether.

He just wanted to go home.

Nick collapsed straight onto the bed into Greg's arms, resting his head on the younger man's chest. "You're home late." Greg whispered, gently brushing his fingers through his partner's hair. "Everything okay?" He asked softly. Without lifting his head to look into his fiancés or saying a word to him, Nick shook his head slightly, moving the rest of his body closer so Greg could wrap his arms tightly around him. "You wonna talk about it, baby?"

Shaking his head again, Nick softly answered, "No."

Greg touched his lips to the Texan's soft head of hair then clutched him tightly in his embrace, listening to his soft breathing, rather than asking him lots of questions about it as he sensed he really didn't want to talk right now. Usually Nick managed to close his emotions from cases off to everyone, including Greg. But since they lost the baby, Nick had found it harder to hide his emotions from Greg. He was actually starting to enjoy the comfort that the younger man gave him, rather than the loneliness of dealing with it himself like he was used to.

"You're wearin' my t-shirt, Greg." Nick suddenly noticed.

"I like it. It smells of you." Greg smiled down at the older man as he looked up at him. "I miss you being here at nights, Nicky. This way I'm surrounded by something that smells like you. Just like how we used to leave a t-shirt that smelt of you in Danielle's crib, so she'd sleep in her own bed when you weren't here."

Nick smiled back at him then crawled across his chest, joining their lips together for a passionate kiss. "I miss you too." He whispered back to him. "What are you doin' today?"

"Um... what day is it today?"

"Wednesday." Nick chuckled softly.

"Oh, well in that case... Danielle's got a doctor's appointment at ten. Oh, Anne and I are taking Freddie and Danielle to this arts and crafts thingy after that, then we were gonna take them to have a picnic in the park for lunch..."

"Jeez, can you squeeze me in anywhere in your busy schedule?" He chuckled, brushing his fingertips across Greg's cheek.

"I'm sorry. You're usually sleeping half the day. You can come with me if you want." He suggested, gently rubbing his palm across his lover's lower back. "I didn't think a kiddie picnic was really your sort of thing though. And you hate going to the doctors with me."

"No, I don't. I just hate watchin' them jabbin' needles into my daughter." He pointed out to him. "I know she has to have them, but they jab em in her so quick, and it hurts her. I hate standin' by and watchin' em doin' that."

"They do it quick so it hurts less." Greg smiled softly to him. "And she's not going for shots this time anyway. She's had all her shots this year. She's supposed to be the baby about them, not you." He giggled, gently tickling his sides. "I can come home after the doctor's appointment, if you still wonna come to the arts and crafts thingy or the picnic. I just thought that you'd be too tired."

"I've got tomorrow off. I don't have to go in until Friday mornin'. I'm coverin' for day shift."

"Okay, that's cool." Greg grinned, smoothing his hands around his partner's warm body. "So we can have a whole day together tomorrow."

"Besides the pickin' Libby up from school part," Nick reminded him. "I'm pickin' her up every day this week, remember."

"I remember, and I would have loved to have had my Dad pick me up from school every once in a while." Leaning up on his elbows, Greg smiled as he touched a kiss to his partner's lips. "You're a great father, Nicky." Nick gave him a slight smile then rolled over onto the bed beside him, giving out a soft sigh. "Can you tell me about the case now?"

"No. I don't wonna think about it." The older man shook his head. "And you really don't wonna know, baby."

"Okay." Greg touched a kiss to his forehead then scrambled across the bed, heading for the bathroom to freshen up.

"Hey, I'll go to the picnic thingy, if you want me too." Nick called after him. "It's not gonna be Jason and Anne is it?"

Greg shook his head as he appeared in the doorway with his toothbrush in his mouth. "Nope, just Anne, Freddie and Joey. The other kids are in school and Jason's still away on business. Why?"

"Because they never stop arguin' when it's the two of them together." Nick pointed out to him, rolling on the bed to a comfier position. "I don't see why people like that ever get married. They don't belong together and they're just makin' each other's lives a misery by stayin' together. That last dinner thing they planned was awkward as hell."

"True." Greg nodded then made his way back to the sink to rinse his mouth out. He dumped his toothbrush in the cup beside Nick's then returned to the bedroom to get changed. "But they do have six boys. It must be kinda stressful."

"My parents had seven kids and they were never like that."

"Yeah, and look at them now." Greg spoke softly as he tugged a clean t-shirt down over his head, looking across the room at Nick. "So you don't wonna come down to the arts and craft thingy?" Nick responded with a shrug, not really wanting to finger paint with a bunch of two year olds and his nice clean shirt. "Fine suit yourself, but paint always comes out eventually Nicky." Greg grinned at him as he fastened his jeans around his hips.

"You know me too well."

"Because I love you." Greg giggled as he leant across the bed to press a kiss to his lips. "I'll see you later."

"Bye." Nick smiled at him then nestled back against the pillow beneath him. "I love you, Greg." He called after him as he left the room to go and get Danielle dressed and ready for breakfast before he took her off to the doctor.

While Greg was going about his chores for the day, Nick stayed in bed to catch up on his sleep, remaining there until noon when Greg returned to wake him up from his slumber, ready for their picnic. "Hey." Greg whispered as Nick's eyes slowly began to flutter open. "Did you still wonna come with us?"

"Yeah." Nick rubbed his eyes open then pushed himself up to a sitting position, lifting Danielle free from his lover's arms. He pressed a kiss to her forehead then hugged her tightly against his chest. "How was the arts and craft thingy?" He queried.

"Cool, they made play dough pottery, finger painting and paper folding. We're gonna go back next week, aren't we?" He smiled at his daughter, watching her nodding her head slightly before she reclined back into her father's warm embrace. "So you wonna get up and shower, Nicky? Anne's gonna bring the picnic over here when she's got the boys ready then we'll go down to the park."

"Okay. I'll grab a quick shower." Nick gave him a smile then leant towards him to press a kiss to his lips. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Greg assured him then lifted Danielle free from his arms. "I have to go change her though." He smiled as he climbed to his feet. "You'd be so proud of her. She went potty twice today, didn't you?"

"Yeah." Danielle smiled at him.

Nick smiled widely then climbed to his feet to press a kiss to her forehead. "You're Daddy's little super star, huh?" Nick pecked a kiss to Greg's cheek then made his way off towards the shower to clean himself up, before Anne arrived with the picnic basket and her two boys Freddie and Joey.

As soon as Nick was ready, they all set off towards the nearest park for their picnic, playing on the swings, slide and merry-go-round, before Nick started up a mini game of football with the children, teaming up with Anne and Danielle while Greg, Joey and Freddie tried to score points against them on the other team.

Nick left early to pick up his daughter, Libby from school as promised, leaving Greg to take Anne and her boys back home before her older children returned home from school themselves.

"Hey Greg!" Nick called through the house as he returned home a few hours later. He made his way through to the bedroom, smiling as he saw Greg curled up on the bed with Danielle sleeping at his side. Nick removed everything but his boxers and a t-shirt, gently easing himself onto the bed beside them. "Hey baby, you're tired again?" Nick asked him as the younger man fluttered his eyes open. "You've been really tired for the past few weeks, baby."

"I'm fine." Greg assured him. "You're starting to fuss over me as much as my mother, Nicky."

"Sorry." Nick pressed a kiss to his sleepy temple, then snuggled against the pillow beside him with Danielle between them.

"How was your dinner with Libby?" The younger man queried.

"Okay." Nick shrugged. "We had burgers and ice cream. Not together though." He chuckled, catching Greg's reaction. "You know she talks a lot, but not about the right sorta stuff."

"What should she be talking about?"

"I expected her to hate me." Nick leant up on his elbow, gently tucking the quilt blanket around his sleeping child beside him, before he continued, "She seems really cool about it though. She talks to me about her brothers, about school and her friends. She hates talkin' about her mother though. Do you think she blames her for what I did?"

"I don't know, Nicky." Greg shrugged, entwining his fingers with Nick's across the bed. "She's a fifteen year old girl with a mother as a pole dancer though, so I think there's probably many more reasons why she doesn't get along with her mother." Greg assured him then watched as Nick brushed his thumb across the ring on his finger. "You didn't change your mind about marrying me did you?"

Nick looked up at him confused, "No, why?"

"Well, after what you said about Anne and Jason... I thought, that maybe you've gone off the whole idea of getting married."

"I want to marry you, and we love each other."

"I'm sure they loved each other at one point in their lives." Greg pointed out to him. "Would you stay with me if we made each other miserable?"

"We'd never make each other miserable." Nick assured him, giving the younger man a smile as he looked into his eyes. "And they don't even wonna work on it. If we ever got to that stage, and that's a big 'if'. I'd want to work on our relationship, not let it spiral out of control to the point of shoutin' at one another in front of their kids."

"Me too." Greg agreed. "You know this April is our three year anniversary from your proposal to me."

"Yeah? Why don't we get married in April then?" Nick suggested, watching a slight smile spreading across the younger man's lips. "We'll have to run it by your mother, but we can have just a simple service or somethin' to make it official. It'll be really special that way."

"Okay, but you'll have to fight for the date with my mother. You know she said she needs at least six or seven months to plan our wedding."

"I bet I can do it two weeks. All we need is a smart suit each, rings and a minister. What's so hard about that?" Nick chuckled softly. "And you'll have to do the fightin' G, she's your mother."

"Okay." Greg leant forwards to capture his partner's lips, feeling a twinge of excitement shivering down his spine. "But you have to be there to back me up, she loves you. You gave her a grandchild." He indicated towards the sleeping toddler between them. "So, whaddya wonna do tomorrow?"

"I'm thinkin' a long lazy day in bed." Nick grinned at him, leaving Greg to do just that the next morning while he prepared breakfast for the three of them. They spent the whole day together at home, playing with Danielle and making slight preparations for their wedding day as Jean would most likely insist on doing the rest.

* * *

Climbing out from under Nick's arm draped across his stomach the next morning, Greg eased himself off the bed, adjusting his shorts as he headed straight across the hall towards Danielle's room to check on her. Approaching the crib, Greg smiled down at his snoozing little angel, gently brushing his fingers through her short strands of hair. He then reached for the monitor on the cabinet beside her bed, quietly clicking it on. Slowly tiptoeing out of the room, Greg made his way into the kitchen, stumbling over the toys that littered the hall on the way.

"Ouch." He winced, limping off towards the kitchen counter.

Greg let out a yawn of exhaustion as he filled the coffee machines pot with water, noticing it must have rained late last night because there were puddles slowly drying up on the patio. Turning on the baby monitor on top of the fridge, Greg noticed the bright yellow posit note stuck to the fridge door reminding him to pay the mortgage, followed by another just beneath it reminding him to pick up Nick's dry cleaning before he had to head into court the next day.

Greg collected up the waxy crayons scattered across the counter, clearing them away into their box before he gave the counter a wipe down, noticing some crayon lines etched into the counter that weren't coming off with a regular scrub.

"Opps." Greg knew Nick would be mad about that, but he decided to worry about it later since it was Nick's first day back at work today and he had offered to go in early as day shift were down two CSI's due to a stomach flu floating around.

As soon as his coffee was done, Greg took a few sips then started to rush around, picking up toys and dropping them into the basket in the front room, before he started with the clothes, dumping them all in the washing hamper, making a mental note to put a load on today or they wouldn't have any clothes to wear for tomorrow.

Brushing a hand through his pillow creased hair, Greg checked on the baby video monitor on the fridge, smiling as his little sleeping beauty snoozed on then he started to prepare breakfast for the three of them.

Nick's alarm started to sound a few minutes later, waking him up from his deep slumber. He instantly reached out for Greg's side of the bed, but there was no sign of him anywhere. He gave out a sleepy yawn then stumbled out of the bed towards the bathroom as nature immediately called.

Once he was done in the bathroom, Nick pulled on one of his warm sweatshirts then made his way into Danielle's room, lifting the sleepy little girl from her crib. "Mornin' sleepy head." He whispered to her, carrying her off into the kitchen where Greg was flipping pancakes in a frying pan with a phone pressed to his ear.

"No Mom, I can't come over today. I've got too much to do." Greg spoke into his cell phone, flipping the pancakes onto a plate for Nick then poured him out a coffee. He set it down on the breakfast counter for him, then returned to what he was doing. "Okay . . . yeah, yeah . . . I promise I'll tell you all about it later . . . I know I didn't tell you yesterday, I was kinda busy." He defended himself. "No I was not sleeping with Nicky all day, I was just too busy to call . . . yes I was . . . like stuff . . . like house work stuff, Mom." He complained to her, rolling his eyes at her through his phone. "I'm not being snippy." Greg laughed softly, leaning against the counter beside him. "I'm sorry . . . No, I wasn't lying in a ditch somewhere, Mom. I was busy with laundry and things. Okay then... okay, Mom. I promise to call you tomorrow, don't worry . . . yeah, I know . . . I wouldn't miss it for the world . . . yeah, I'm sure Nick's looking forward to it too . . . love you . . . yeah . . . bye... bye... buh bye, Mom." Greg snapped his phone shut, sighing heavily as he dropped it to the counter. "Morning." Greg smiled towards his family.

"Mornin' baby." Nick pressed his lips to Greg's, holding Danielle against his side. "You okay?" He queried, placing his hand on his forehead. "You look even paler and sleepy."

"I'm fine." Greg assured him. "Your breakfasts ready." He indicated towards it, taking their baby girl off his hands so he could sit down.

"Thank you." Nick pressed a kiss to his partner's cheek then took a seat at the counter. "Did your Mom wonna know all about Libby or somethin'?"

"Yes, why do you think she called so early? She never calls before seven am, she knows the rules. She said she was so nervous about it the other night that she hardly slept, then when I didn't call her yesterday she started worrying even more."

"So what am I lookin' forward to?" He inquired, having heard Greg's half of the phone conversation.

"Thanksgiving dinner with the Sanders family." Greg announced like a commentator. "She keeps reminding me so we're not late again, like last year."

"That wasn't my fault. My car was out of wiper fluid." Nick defended himself with a chuckle.

"Since it wasn't that big of an emergency though, my mother is going to hold it against you for the next... five years I think." Greg calculated off the top of his head. "She just has no idea how much you love your car." He grinned across the counter at him.

"That's right. But you do, and when'd you get so domestic, G?" He queried as he took a sip of his hot coffee.

"What do you mean?" Greg asked as he lifted Danielle down into her highchair, giving the oatmeal one last stir before he set it down in front of her.

"You're never up before me, and there's never breakfast or coffee in the mornin's."

"You wouldn't know because you're always sleeping." Greg smirked at him as he handed Danielle her special little princess spoon. Danielle curled her little fingers around the end, taking her first spoonful into her mouth while Greg was watching. He gave her a wide smile as she successfully got it into her mouth without dropping it everywhere. "Since you've been working nights, I wake up a lot earlier than you, and this is my usual morning routine. Only this time I have to make you breakfast too because you have to go into work early."

"So _I_ domesticated you?" Nick chuckled softly, leaning across the counter to press a kiss to his fiancés lips. "Thank you, honey. You really do know how to look after your man, doncha?"

"Yep, so eatcha breakfast, Tex. And _you_, use the spoon." Greg laughed as Danielle used her free hand to dip into the oatmeal, licking it straight from her fingertips as the spoon wasn't cooperating the way she wanted it to. "Oh and Nicky, I left my car at my parents, so I can't pick up your suit from the dry cleaners."

"It's still there?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah, apparently baby vomit takes a while to get out." Greg innocently smiled at him. "If it's that important to you, you can always get it yourself on your way home from work. Just don't forget it because you're due in court tomorrow." He reminded him.

"Okay." Nick smiled at him then hopped one seat over to stop Danielle from dropping the whole bowl of oatmeal down herself. He wiped her sticky hands with a cloth, re-teaching her how to use her spoon as she was starting to get the hang of it the other week.

Once he was done with his own breakfast, Nick headed off to have a shower, shave, brush his teeth and finish getting ready for work while Greg cleaned up the mess in the kitchen then rushed Danielle off to her bedroom, changing her diaper and getting her dressed. He gently brushed her hair into pigtails, pinning back the loose short strands with some little butterfly clips.

"So, what are you gonna do all day without me?" Nick queried from the door, buttoning up his shirt across his chest.

"Well I don't know, Nick. Since I seem to have taken on the wifely duties of the house, I thought I'd wash all of your clothes. Do some ironing. The house is in a mess, and then there's the bills and things to be paid off."

"I was only askin'." Nick smiled at his snippy lover. "Don't overdo it baby, your back still isn't fully healed." He warned him. "I can do some when I get back from work. I don't want you hurtin' yourself."

"It was nearly a year ago." Greg frowned at him. "Would everyone please stop, thinking I'm some delicate little thing that can't do anything?"

"I'm sorry, I worry about you baby. Maybe we should book another appointment to see the doctor." He suggested.

"Why?"

"Because you've been gettin' weaker and paler for the past few weeks," Nick pointed out to him, looking his younger lover in the eyes. "You barely had any energy the other day with the football, and your Dad had to drive you home from their house because you were so sleepy."

"I'm fine."

"Why didn't you eat any breakfast? Did you finish your dinner the other night?"

"Yes I finished my dinner, but no I didn't have any breakfast." Greg filled him in. "I'm not going anorexic on you, Nicky. I just don't feel hungry. But really, I'm fine." Greg assured him the ushered him away, as he lifted Danielle into his arms. "Now go or you're gonna be late. Ecklie's your boss today and he doesn't exactly like you." He reminded him.

"Okay, but promise me if it gets any worse you'll go to the doctors." Greg looked up into his eyes, giving the man a reluctant nod. "Thank you, you know I love you."

"Yeah but you're a pain in the arse, Stokes. There's nothing wrong with me. You try looking after a teething two year old, by yourself for twenty four – seven."

"Well then, take her over your mother's so you can get some sleep."

"Okay." Greg nodded to him then pointed towards the door. "Go now, you're gonna be late."

"Okay, bye baby. I love you two." He snatched a kiss from his partner's lips, then pressed a kiss to Danielle's forehead, before he hurried off to the front door to grab his wallet, keys and kit from by the door. "Bye!"

"Bye!" Greg waved after him then set Danielle down in her play pen in the front room while he got on with some of the housework, loading some of the laundry into the washing machine. He double checked all the pockets of their clothes, finding loose change, pens and shopping lists in half of Nick's jeans, along with a box of match sticks with a phone number written on the tab and the name Valerie.

Greg sighed in relief as he read the name, glad Nick had already told him about her or it would have freaked him out. "I'm coming baby!" He called out to Danielle as he heard her calling out to him. He set the matches down on the counter then rushed off into the front room, finding Danielle leant against the gate with tears in her eyes as she hated to be left alone. Greg swept her up into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as he brushed away her tears with his thumb. "I'm sorry, baby. I was just in the next room."

As soon as she was in her father's arms, her tears automatically stopped.

Greg smiled at her then set her down beside the laundry hamper while he finished checking the rest of the pockets of Nick's clothes so he could finally load the washing machine. When he was single, Greg hated doing the laundry, but now that he had a family to look after he really didn't mind it. He preferred his domestic life to the single bachelor one, any day.

* * *

Waking up to the sound of her buzzing alarm, Libby gave out a groan of annoyance as she slammed her hand down on top of it. Scrambling out of bed, Libby pulled her hair back into a pony tail, tying it off with a band off her desk before she made her way across the hall to the bathroom to get ready for school.

Once she was dressed and ready, Libby woke her three little brothers up, along with Ruby's son to get them ready for school then made her way off down the stairs to grab them all some breakfast while the adults of the household snoozed the morning away in their bed upstairs.

Libby set the four of them down at the table to eat their breakfast while she started to make their lunches, keeping an eye on the time as she had to get her brother Garrett on the bus before she rushed off to catch her own. "Emmett, don't throw food at Philip." She scolded her little brother for throwing food at Ruby's son. Five year old Emmett stuck his tongue out at his big sister then continued with what he was doing, even though Philip was three years older than him. "Emmett, stop it!" She hissed.

"Make me." He childishly replied, throwing food at her.

"Libby!" Her mother scolded her as she came into the room, finding Libby hitting her brother over the head. "Don't do that. He's just a baby compared to you."

"You've got that right." Libby muttered then made her way off towards the door to grab her bag.

"Libby... Lib's, wait." Valerie hurried after her, hoping to catch her before she escaped out of the front door. "I'm sorry about what I said last night, sweetheart. You know I want you to have a relationship with you father, not just for the money..."

"Save it, Mom. You make more sense when you're drunk." Libby snapped at her then pulled her bag on over her shoulder. "Nick's not exactly rich like Garrett and Emmett's father anyway, so he couldn't afford to keep you and your expensive tastes anyway." The angry teenager spat at her. "I have to go to school. Your children are dressed and ready."

Valerie sighed heavily, watching her daughter storming away down the path before she disappeared down the street to go and catch her bus.

* * *

After finishing off his shift at the lab, Nick made his way off towards the locker room, spotting Valerie stood at the front desk, arguing with Judy about getting hold of him. "Hey, hey." He stopped her from throwing something at Judy. "What the hell are you doin' here, Valerie?"

Valerie sighed in relief as she saw the face of the man grabbing her wrist. "Finally, I've been waitin' here for freakin' hours to talk to you, Nick."

"Why?" Nick looked at her confused as he ushered her away from the front desk to talk to her.

"Because Libby didn't show up at school today!" She shouted at him. "They've been callin' me all day to try and find out where she is. She can't get any more absent days, she's had too many already this year. They're already investigatin' me for Garrett's broken arm a few weeks ago. It wasn't me, he was rough housin' with Philip down the stairs..."

"Okay, so why are you talkin' to me?" He interrupted her.

"Because I thought she'd come find you. Whenever Garrett runs away he runs straight to his father. Libby's never had anyone to run away to before."

"Well she's not here." Nick pointed out to her. "She doesn't even know where I work."

"Fine, big help you are." She snipped, storming off towards the elevator.

"Stokes, this is no place for girlfriends." Having heard the commotion from his office, Ecklie decided to see what was going on his lab, finding Nick arguing with a woman. "I will not let you turn my lab..."

"Relax, she's leavin'." Nick cut him off then made his way back down the hall towards the locker room to get ready to leave himself. As Nick climbed into his truck, he called Libby's cell phone number to find out where she was, but there was no answer and he didn't even know where to start looking.

"Hey baby." Nick called through the house as he unlocked the front door. Dropping his keys and things on the side, Nick turned to lock the front door then opened his arms to hug the excitable puppy that rushed to the door to greet him. "Wow, the place looks great, Greg." He noticed the house was actually sparkling as he held his lover tightly in his embrace.

"You really like it?" Greg pressed a kiss to his partner's chin then gently tugged him towards the front room. "There's my secret weapon."

"Hello Nicky!" Jean excitedly greeted him then jumped to her feet to properly greet him with a hug. "I hope you don't mind. I brought Greg's car back and came to help out with Danielle. Daniel is coming to pick me up after he finishes work, so I won't be here much longer."

"No, I don't mind." Nick shook his head, tightening his arm around his lover's waist. "I could give you a lift if you want? Save your husband the trouble of drivin' out of his way to get here."

"Aww, you're so sweet at trying to get rid of me." She giggled softly, patting him on the shoulder. Tapping her watch as she looked at the time, Jean winked at the two of them, smirking, "Don't worry; he's on his way here. I'll be out of your way before you know it, so you can get on with..."

"Mother." Greg cut her off, glaring at her a moment before he turned towards Nick beside him. "Valerie called a few minutes ago. She said she found Libby, so you don't have to worry. She just decided to cut school today."

"You talked to her?" Nick looked at him surprised.

"Yeah, and I see what you mean. She never shuts up." Greg smirked. "She said she's sorry if she caused you any problems with your boss at work. Oh and she wants to congratulate you for removing the Stokes stick up your arse and sleeping with me."

"Oh." Nick blushed as he looked towards the wide smile on Greg's mother's face.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'll go and grab you a plate of dinner, Nicky." Jean smiled then skipped off towards the kitchen, humming softly to herself as she fixed him a plate of the meal she had just cooked for her son and granddaughter.

"Where's Danielle?" Nick queried.

"In here." Greg led him over towards the sofa by his hand, showing him Danielle fast asleep on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around her. "Sorry, she wanted to wait for you, but she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer."

"That's okay." Nick took a seat beside her, gently lifting her hand from her chest to hold in his own while she slept. "Did yah have fun without me, G?"

"Maybe a little." Greg eased himself onto the sofa beside Nick, relaxing back in his embrace. "You're cold, what have you been doing all day?"

"Processin' a DB in a freezer." Nick smirked, then smiled up at Jean as she handed him a plate. "Thank you, Jean." Greg's mother just smiled in return, then made her way back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up before her husband arrived to pick her up and take her home, and they didn't see her again until thanksgiving night, the very next week.

"So, you said that you and Nicky have some news to tell us?" Jean queried as she handed round the dish of sweet potatoes to her mother. "You're not gonna leave us in suspense for the whole meal are you? How'd your doctor's appointment go last Thursday?" She asked, desperately wanting to know what was going on.

"Well," Greg set his fork down on the plate, reaching for the bread rolls his father was handing to him before he reached for the butter. "He took a blood test and things in case I'm anaemic or something, but it's too soon to say anything for sure. But that wasn't the news we were gonna tell you."

"Oh." Jean looked almost disappointed as she continued to hand the food round the table. "What was the news that you were gonna tell us then? It better be exciting. I've been waiting days for you to tell me that you're pregnant."

"Sorry, but I'm not. It's not for lack of trying either." He pointed out to her. "Anyway, Nick and I have decided..." Greg smiled round at his partner before he continued, "We've decided to get married in April."

"April? That's... that's less than five months away." Jean shrieked. "However will we have time to prepare?"

"We want a simple service. Just you guys, some of our friends from work and a few of Nick's family, in a simple little service that just has us saying our own vows to one another before we exchange rings and get pronounced... you know, husband and husband." Greg explained to her, watching his family's eyes all turning towards Jean as she seemed to be the primary decision maker of the family.

"I don't know, sweetheart. It's kinda short notice. How will we ever have time to book everything and get clothes and things? Couldn't you wait another year so we have more time? My plates kinda full now that I've joined Paula in the P-FLAG meetings. We've got so much coming up in the next few months now that gay marriage is on the verge of being legalised everywhere else."

Greg pouted his lip out at her. "But Nick proposed to me in April two years ago. I don't wonna wait another year to marry him."

"Couldn't you have told me this earlier?" She complained, feeling bad for crushing her little boy's dreams.

"We only just decided this yesterday." Greg defended himself. "C'mon Mom, you can wrangle together a birthday party in less than two hours. I'm sure you can do this."

"When did you wrangle a birthday party together in less than two hours?" Daniel asked his wife, noticing the guilty expression on her face.

"I forgot your fortieth birthday. Luckily Greg was on his way home from college that week and reminded me, that's when I pulled off that big surprise party for you." She explained to him then scowled over at her son. "He was never supposed to know that I forgot his birthday, you little monster."

"I'm sorry; you won't let me have my wedding." Greg evilly grinned at her, wanting his wedding to Nick in April like he planned.

"No, you'll have to pick another date. It's too short notice. There is no way we can organise this thing in such a small space of time." She shook her head. "You're my only child, currently. You deserve an amazing wedding that you'll remember for the rest of your lives. I want your wedding day to be special, but that's just too short notice. Pick another event in your relationship and we'll marry you two on the anniversary of that day instead if you're so impatient that it has to be next year."

"Fine." Greg sighed heavily. "Let me see, Danielle was conceived in April, but that dates out. I first slept with Nick in October, 1999. But that month has already past, and I plan on being pregnant by next October. Danielle started crawling in July, but I'm gonna be pretty pregnant by then..."

"You said you're not pregnant." She interrupted him.

"I'm not... yet. But I will be by then. The best month is April." He concluded, erupting a wide smile from his Nana and Papa Olaf as he was just as stubborn as Jean. "Mom please, we don't want anything big, just a small simple service that we can afford that basically just declares us as life partners while we exchange rings. So please, please, please, please." He begged her.

"I want you to have a big, special wedding that you deserve."

"I don't want a big wedding; it'll be special whatever it is, just as long as Nick's with me."

"Why are you only asking your mother?" Daniel queried.

"Because Daddies don't know the first thing about weddings except the bachelor party." Greg grinned at him. "We'll pay for everything. Please Mommy." He pleaded in a sweet voice he knew she couldn't resist.

"Oh my god, he's manipulating me again." She sighed heavily, dropping her head into her hands. "Fine. Fine, I'll just give up the P-FLAG group that means so little to you, so I can plan your wedding." She gave in, watching a wide smile spreading across Greg's face. "One day you'll be wishing I did let you have the big wedding you deserve."

"The big wedding I'm not legally entitled to anyway." He pointed out to her. "I just want, Nick. That's all you want too, right?" He asked, turning to his partner beside him.

"Yes." Nick nodded to him.

"Well we just want to spoil our little boy with the wedding he deserves." Jean argued then turned to her husband. "Right Daniel?"

"Yes dear." Daniel agreed.

Nana Olaf laughed, shaking her head at each of them. "He'll never give into the big wedding _you_ want him to have, just like you didn't when we offered to pay for yours and Daniel's." Her mother pointed out to her. "Daniel's just like Nick. Quiet and polite, agreeing to everything his partner says as he never wants to rock the boat. While Greg's just like you. He knows what he wants. He's stubborn and nothing will make him change his mind."

"That's right." Greg agreed, lacing his hand with Nick's under the table. "And it was Nick's idea to get married in April. He knew it would have to be me to fight for the month we wanted though, since you're so stubborn."

Jean looked towards Nick as he nervously gulped down the lump in his throat. "Is that true, Nicky?

"Yeah." Nick anxiously nodded to her. "I kinda wanted it to be special for both of us. Since it was the month Danielle was conceived and the month I proposed to Greg..."

"You know if you really wanted it in April, you could have just asked, sweetheart." She interrupted him, giving him a wide smile. "I'm sure we can organise something in time."

"What?" Greg looked at her surprised. "For him you'd agree to it, but I have to beg?"

Daniel gently elbowed his wife, sensing Greg was having an old child moment of freak out as the mother who always sided with him was siding with someone else. "No, I wasn't siding with him." Jean shook her head. "Just... since you both want it so much, you changed my mind." She smiled at him. "Now c'mon, this is supposed to be, Thanksgiving."

"Hey, you wanted to know what the big news was." Greg smiled at her then grabbed the sweet potatoes again to give Danielle some more as she seemed to like them so much. "So, what are you thankful for, mother?"

"My little snot of a son." She grinned back at him. "I'm also thankful for you, Nicky. And my beautiful granddaughter, Danielle. I'm very thankful for having all my family with me this year, especially considering we almost lost one of you this year." She looked in the direction of her son then raised her wine glass from the table, before she continued, "And, I'd like to propose a toast to Nicky and Greg to their upcoming marriage. Since I'm the mother of the bride and all." She cheekily teased her son. "When your children find true love, you know that you've at least done something right in raising them. It's hard to believe that you're so grown up already, Gregory. It seems like only yesterday you were around Danielle's age, asking me where the water went in the washing machine once it was done." She giggled. "Anyway, I've waited a long time for this day to come... so, to Nick and Greg." She finally toasted, raising her glass higher.

"To Nick and Greg." The rest of them toasted them, raising their glasses

* * *

Holding his baby girl tightly in his arms, Nick gently rocked her in his arms as she dozed off to sleep against him from the sound of the soft raspy voices of the Rascal Flatts CD echoing through the room. "You _never_ dance with me." Greg whispered as he stepped up beside him.

"Really?" Nick looked at him surprised. "I thought we have? We must have... at least once?"

"Nope, I don't think so." Greg shook his head. "I think I'd remember something like that."

"I'm sorry." Nick adjusted Danielle against his chest then reached his free arm out for Greg to hold him against him. "I like the lyrics to this one. They have a lot of meanin'."

"You say that about all your hick stuff." Greg giggled.

"Well it's a lot more meaningful then slaves to non-existent gods, with fights and yeah's thrown in everywhere." Nick snickered.

"Marilyn Manson songs are very meaningful." Greg defended him. "You just have to listen to the lyrics. Marilyn Manson does it with more flare then a cowboy who done broke his tractor down." He mocked him, giggling softly as he looked into his cowboys eyes.

"I have not once played you a song about a broken down tractor." Nick chuckled. "Just listen to the lyrics of this one. It has a lot of meanin' to me." Nick turned the volume up a little more, adjusting the blanket around the sleeping two year old in his arms before he moved his other arm to wrap around his partner's waist.

_I will stand by you_

_I will help you through_

_When you've done all you can do_

_If you can't cope_

_I will dry your eyes_

_I will fight your fight_

_I will hold you tight_

_And I won't let go_

_It hurts my heart_

_To see you cry_

Greg looked up into his sentimental Texan's eyes, feeling the warmth of his big Texas heart warming his own as the song continued to play and the lyrics started to make even more sense to him now he knew what his fiancé was relating them to.

_I know it's dark_

_This part of life_

_Oh it finds us all_

_And we're too small_

_To stop the rain_

_Oh but when it rains_

_I will stand by you_

_I will help you through_

_When you've done all you can do_

_If you can't cope_

_I will dry your eyes_

_I will fight your fight_

_I will hold you tight_

_And I won't let you fall_

_Don't be afraid to fall_

_I'm right here to catch you_

_I won't let you down_

Wrapping his arms around Nick and their child in his arms, Greg whispered, "You haven't so far."

* * *

**I sped things up a little in this chapter, I hope you don't mind, I just wanted to get things rolling again, so I don't drag out too much of the details. Hopefully you've been monitoring Greg's symptoms over the past few chapters, so you'll have some idea for what's ahead.**

**The song used in this chapter is called 'I won't let go' another one of Rascal Flatts songs, that I just wanted to use to finish it off.**

**I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Thanks so much for reading and your continued reviews! Please let me know what you think of this one too :D**

**~ Holly**


	12. Chapter 12: Double Trouble

**Chapter Twelve: Double Trouble**

Holding Danielle against his chest, Nick gently bounced her in his arm as he stirred the coffees set on the counter then popped the lid onto Danielle's bottle, handing it over to her. Danielle curled her fingers around the bottle then raised it to her mouth, taking slow sips of the milk in there.

"Good girl." Nick gave her a wide smile as she sleepily leant against his shoulder, fluttering her eyelids open and shut as she was about ready to drop off to sleep, even though she had only just woken up a few hours ago.

Nick lifted the two coffee cups into one hand then made his way off towards his bedroom, where Greg was lying on his stomach on his side of the bed. Setting down the coffee cups on the bedside table, Nick climbed back under the covers on his side of the bed, sitting Danielle down against him.

Greg slowly rolled over to face him, giving him a slight smile as he still hadn't completely forgiven him. "Did you make coffee?" He sleepily queried. Nick nodded as he reached for one of the mugs, holding it steady while Greg adjusted a pillow behind him so he could sit up straight. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Greg smiled at his little girl in Nick's arms, gently brushing her hair aside as he looked into her eyes. "Somebody looks exhausted. I guess that'll teach you to go to sleep on time instead of making your Daddy climb out of bed twelve times during the night." He chuckled softly, as he had been up half the night with her from her crying.

"Twelve times?" Nick looked at him surprised.

"Uh huh, she's still teething. She's off solid foods again. She hasn't slept through the past few nights, while you're at work. She's getting her molars." Greg took a sip of his coffee then set it down on his bedside table before he turned to sit cross legged beside Nick. "The doctor says she's fine though." He assured him as he saw the worried look in his partner's eyes. "He said the pain of each tooth lasts about a day or two for them to cut through the gums."

"Ouch." Nick whispered softly as he gently rubbed his palm across her back. "Didn't you dress her in the purple pyjamas when I left for work?" He suddenly noticed.

"I did. She didn't want them." Greg giggled, taking the bottle from Danielle as she took it out of her mouth. "She managed to unbutton herself from the purple ones then when I tried to put it back on her, she said 'No Dada, no want'."

Nick smiled at him. "I love how the only word she knows fluently is 'no'."

"You shoulda seen her yesterday. My Dad called my cell and she insisted on saying hello to him. She called him 'Pup' and answered a few of his questions with 'yah'. Then when he asked what she had been doing all day, she started babbling incoherently for ages, having this whole conversation with him in her own little language. It's probably what we sound like to her when we're on the phone." He smirked, holding her little hand in his own. "I can't believe she's gonna be three in twenty days."

"I know. I can't believe it's nearly Christmas again, already." Nick smirked, letting Danielle go from his arms as she wanted to crawl onto the bed beside him. "We gotta start Christmas shoppin' and all that soon too. Who comes at Christmas?" He asked Danielle as she looked at him. "Do you remember? Who comes down the chimney and leaves you lots and lots of presents?"

"Da." She pointed to Greg beside her as she fidgeted on the covers between her fathers.

"She's onto you, Greg." Nick smirked, reaching for his coffee before it got cold. "Looks like she knows the truth already, there's no point in splashin' out on an expensive holiday she already knows is fake." He teased his lover, as he knew how much he loved Christmas himself.

"No she's not. That's not fair. We have to have Christmas. It's like the best holiday all year and it's the day after her birthday. It's the first day that we became a real family too." He reminded him. "You know who Santa is, doncha?" He asked Danielle, gently tickling her as she lay down beside him. Danielle squirmed beneath him, smiling up at him once he stopped. "Who's Santa, Danielle?" He asked her again.

"Santa." She parroted, sleepily rubbing one of her eyes.

"See, she knows." Greg smiled at his fiancé.

Nick shook his head at him, smirking, "She's just copyin' you, baby. She has no idea who Santa is." Nick chuckled then gently tickled his partner as he pouted his lip out at him in disappointment. "C'mon, I was teasin' about not celebratin' Christmas anyway. I know it was the first day we were a real family. It's my favourite day of the year too." Nick carefully leant over their daughter between them, pressing a kiss to his fiancés lips. "Oh and I need your help to buy a gift for, Libby. I have no idea what a teenage girl would want for Christmas."

Greg looked at him surprised. "Me, I don't know her though."

"How would you like to change that?" He suggested, setting his coffee down on the bedside table so he could lie down with his family. "When I took her out for lunch the other weekend, I asked her the same question. She said she'd love to meet you and Danielle."

"Why would she wonna meet me?"

"Because you're a huge part of my life, and I love you." Nick reminded him. "You don't have to if you don't want to. She told me her mother doesn't celebrate Christmas, but I still wanted to get her a present."

"I wish I could help you out. I used to be cool. I used to read about the latest pop stars, all the teen mags and things, but now I read about potty training and bottom care for babies." Greg cheekily grinned at him, pressing a kiss to Danielle's forehead as she started to doze off to sleep again beside him. "You said she liked ice skating though, didn't you?"

"Yeah, she hasn't been since she was ten though."

"There you go then." Greg smiled over their daughter at him. "Just don't treat her to a father, daughter day of it, because you can't ice skate, Tex. You'll only end up embarrassing her, then she'll hate you for it forever." Greg giggled as the older man pouted at him. "You can even invite her to our wedding."

"I can?" Nick reached for Greg's hand, weaving their fingers together over their sleeping child. "I thought you just wanted it to be us? Just two people committed to makin' a secure life for each other and our future children."

"I do. But she's your child too." Greg pointed out to him. "I'd come off as the bad guy, if I exclude her from your life completely. I believe this falls into the category of for better or worse. Most people only mean for better when they take those vows. But I wonna stick around for all of it. You've stuck around for the worst parts with me, and they were right in the beginning of our relationship. So, I'm not gonna let a mistake that happened fifteen years ago when you were still just a kid yourself tear us apart."

"I can't believe you're the same lab dork who used to wear rubber gloves on his head." Nick chuckled softly, touching his lips to his hairline. "You're so grown up, Greggo."

"I _had_ to do some growing up. I had to adjust to taking care of people other than myself." Greg smiled at the two people he loved most in the world. "And I love it. It beats being alone any day."

"Where are you goin'?" He asked surprised as Greg suddenly sat up.

"Well, speaking of looking after people. I've got overdue laundry and grocery shopping to do. And you still have to sleep, you just got back from a double shift at the lab and you haven't slept since yesterday." He reminded him, pecking a kiss to his forehead. "You want me to leave Danielle there or take her through?"

"She's fine here." Nick smiled up at him. "I love you, don't work too hard."

"I won't. And I love you too." Greg winked back at him, then made his way into the bathroom to freshen up. Greg pulled on a pair of sweat pants over his boxers then got to work on the laundry, feeling nauseous from the smell of the laundry detergent invading his nostrils. Placing his hand on his stomach, a small smile graced Greg's lips as he realised what was probably making him so nauseous.

Greg quickly rushed to get dressed so he could go out then checked on his family to make sure they were still sleeping, before he quickly slipped out the door to go grocery shopping for everything he needed.

* * *

Walking in through his front door a few hours later, Greg smiled surprised as he saw Nick feeding their daughter. "Hey, you got her eating."

"It's only apple sauce." Nick smirked as he held it up. "I called Anne. She said it was the only thing Joey would eat when he was teethin'." He set down the jar on the counter then licked the sauce from his fingers, before he rushed to help Greg with the groceries.

"Ah... Dadadadada." Danielle babbled, waving her hand in her father's direction.

"Hello baby." Greg grinned at her, pressing a kiss right to her temple. "I got her some of those fruity yoghurts and a few of those purified vegetables." He reported as he started to unload some of the groceries. "And I got plenty of bananas. My Mom said when I was teething, she used to give me cold mashed bananas. Apparently it was my favourite thing to eat."

Nick smiled at him then pecked a kiss to his cheek as he stepped around him, to help unload the shopping bags full of food for the fridge. "You havin' a cravin' for sugar, G?" He asked as he held up the sugary covered doughnuts with brightly coloured icing.

"Half price." Greg pointed out the price, grinning through his explanation, "You can't _not_ buy them when they're half price, Nicky."

"MmmHmm." Nick chuckled, setting them down on the side. "That's what you said when you were havin' coffee withdrawals when you forgot to order another batch."

"Those chocolaty chocolate cakes _were_ half price, and I was _not_ having coffee withdrawals. I just needed something sweet." Greg defended himself, poking Nick in the side as he stepped in front of him to put the milk bottle in the door of the fridge. "Oh, and I got something for Danielle. But I can't show you it out here."

"Why not?"

"Because she's sitting right there." Greg pointed out to him, then dragged him off into the front room by his wrist with some bags in his hands. Greg gave Nick a gentle push towards the sofa, watching the older man stumbling back and collapsing onto the sofa cushions before he opened the bags, showing him what he had bought. "Check this out, how cute is this?" He asked, holding up a geometric print sequin dress with a ruffled waist and black ribbon hem.

Nick chuckled softly, resting back against the cushions behind him as he looked his lover in the eyes. "I think you were right earlier, G. You've lost your cool."

"Oh c'mon, it's cute and you know it." Greg grinned widely at him. "It's a perfect little Christmas dress for her, especially for this state being a sleeveless dress and all."

"You realise your daughter's gonna argue that later in life, when she wants to go out with a boy in a skimpy little dress." Nick pointed out to him as he took the dress off his hands to take a look for himself. "Two dollars?"

"Yeah, it was on sale." Greg dropped onto the sofa beside Nick as he unfolded another present from the bag. "Little Mermaid night shirts and PJ's. And look at these," Greg gave his partner a wide smile as he unfolded the 'Hello Kitty' pyjama t-shirt and shorts. "What?" He asked as Nick was just smiling at him in awe.

"Nothin'... just if the past Greg could meet this Greg now, the things he would say." Nick chuckled as he looked through all the little girly things he had bought. "Wasn't it you that said you hated gettin' clothes for Christmas?"

"Yeah, but look at these... they're so cute!" He exclaimed, giggling as he looked into Nick's eyes. "You know that they're adorable, you're just too manly to say anything." Greg grinned at him then reached into another bag, tossing a small box into Nick's hands. "I got you a present too, cowboy."

Nick watched him climbing to his feet then looked at the box in his hands. "A box of pregnancy tests? Are you serious?"

Greg nodded to him, immediately receiving a moist kiss from his lover's lips as he suddenly sprang to his feet. "Hold on, Tex. I haven't taken it yet." He giggled, pulling back from his eager lover's hungry mouth.

"But you've got some of the symptoms, right?" He queried, placing his hands on Greg's hips. "The mornin' sickness and things?"

"No, but I've been really tired for the past few weeks. I feel really nauseous, especially walking down past the solvents in the store. I thought I was gonna throw up right there and then, and Doctor Simpson called me about my blood test... he suggested I take one just to be sure."

"Well c'mon then, you have to take the test." Nick's excitement continued to flare through a wide smile, as he gently tugged the younger man off towards the bathroom with the box of pregnancy tests in his hand.

"Oh my god, Nicky." Greg giggled as Nick ripped open the box, tugging Greg over to the toilet. "Perhaps I should buy you female products more often if you get this excited."

"I've been waitin' for this for... almost a year." Nick pointed out to him, holding up one of the pregnancy sticks to him. "If it doesn't happen this year, we've got plenty of time next year, especially after we're married and everythin'..."

"Stop with the negativity." Greg clamped his hand over Nick's mouth, giving his partner a stern look. "I swear, every time with you, you're always thinking of the bad. I won't take it if you're so worried it's gonna be bad."

"I'm sorry." Nick quickly apologised, then tugged at the strings of his partner's sweat pants. "It's gonna be positive, and I know it is because you look especially beautiful today." He grinned, touching their lips together. "And now I know why."

"Why?"

"Because you're glowin' from your pregnancy." The older man smiled widely at him then handed him the pregnancy test from his hand. "Now can you please just take it?" He urged.

"Okay." Greg reached for the stick from his hands then gave him a gentle push back so he had room to breathe. "Don't watch me, you know I can't..."

"Sorry." Nick raised his hands then turned around to give Greg some privacy. "It always amazes me how you can shower, bath and have sex with me completely naked, but you can't pee in front of me fully clothed." Nick chuckled.

"This sticks going up your arse if you don't shut up, Stokes." Greg warned him.

Nick just smiled to himself, patiently waiting for his partner to take the pregnancy test. Once he was done, Nick resumed feeding Danielle the rest of the apple sauce, while Greg sat and watched the timer on his watch, feeling as though the seconds were getting slower and slower, as he sat and watched it like paint drying.

"Greg, honey you ever heard that thing about a watched pot?"

"Shut up." The younger man warned him, grabbing one of the glazed doughnuts he had bought to occupy his mouth, instead of anxiously chewing on his bottom lip while the seconds ticked away. "Nick, what does your watch say?"

"I set it on a timer. It'll go off when its time." Nick smiled over at him then wiped Danielle's chin as she finally finished.

"It's gotta be negative, there's nothing on the screen."

"It's not time yet." Nick assured him, watching Greg reaching for another doughnut as he waited in anticipation to find out the results.

Greg glanced up as Nick's watch started beeping then quickly cast his eyes back towards the test to take a look at the result. He felt the excitement bubbling in his stomach, but when he saw that the screen was blank, all that excitement turned into disappointment. "It must be a defective test."

"Is it negative?" Nick stopped his watch then climbed to his feet, leaning against the counter opposite Greg.

"No, it's nothing." Greg threw it angrily across the room, grumpily making his way over to the sofa where he crashed against the cushions, feeling even more disappointed from the results. "It's okay, like you said... we can try again. We've got another whole year. Our weddings coming up and Danielle's turning three. No reason to be disappointed." He started rambling to himself while Nick went to retrieve the test off the ground to take a look for himself.

As it turned out, the test wasn't defective or negative . . . just slow.

Dropping to his knees as he lifted the stick from the floor, Nick smiled then slowly lifted his gaze across the room towards Greg. He held the stick in his hands, giving his younger lover a wide smile as the big bold letters **PREGNANT** covered the little screen, giving him a clear sign of the results.

"What?" Greg asked, scrambling up from the sofa to take a look at the test he had just thrown across the room for giving him the wrong answer. Too stunned to talk as he saw the results for himself, Greg started to babble, "So um... does that... you know... um... does that mean its positive?" He finally got to his point.

"Yeah, baby." Nick smiled at him. "Pregnant usually means positive."

Greg stared at the small stick in his hands for the longest moment then lifted his gaze to look into Nick's eyes. "So... we're..."

"Gonna have a baby." Nick nodded, finishing his sentence for him. "Are you okay, hun? You're a little spacey."

"Yeah." Greg gave him a soft smile then lunged forwards, wrapping his arms around his partner's shoulders. Nick smiled widely as he clutched the younger man's body tightly in his arms, feeling his heart beat pounding heavily against him. "We're gonna have a baby." He whispered into his fiancés neck.

"That's right, baby." Nick touched a kiss to his hairline, gently smoothing his palms up and down his partner's back. He held him tightly for twenty whole minutes that felt like a lifetime. "You realise that this means you're gonna be fat in our weddin' pictures." Nick suddenly smirked; wincing as Greg playfully punched him in the side. "I was only sayin', baby."

"I don't care." Greg closed his eyes against his shoulder, listening to Nick's breathing a moment that seemed very soothing to him. "Don't tell anybody about this, okay Nicky?" Greg lifted his head to look him in the eye. "Don't tell anybody, not yet, okay? Not until we're at least past..."

"Nothin's gonna happen, Greg." He interrupted him, pressing one finger to his lips to silence him. "The only thing that's gonna happen is that this baby's gonna continue to grow in yah belly until she or he is ready to come out." He assured him then promised, "I won't tell anyone though. I promise."

Greg smiled widely to him then whispered against his partner's lips, "I told you that week off sex would do us some good." Pressing a delicate kiss to his fiancés chin, Greg sniffled back the tears in his eyes as he looked at his partner, loving him even more. "I love you, Nicholas Stokes."

"And I love you, Greg Sanders."

* * *

Nick picked Libby up from school the usual time, walking her home through the park after buying her an ice cream. "My friend Halle spends Christmas eve with her Mom then Christmas day with her Dad. Her parents divorced like three years ago or something. She gets presents on both days, but she hardly ever gets any time with her Dad during the year because he's always working so much." Libby explained to him after he brought up the subject of Christmas. "When the case was still in court though, she stayed with her Aunt and Uncle. They're still married, but they never had any kids of their own. Do you think kids ruin marriages?" She suddenly asked him.

Nick gave her a shrug. "I think people get married for all the wrong reasons these days. There are some marriages that work. People that really want to be together for the rest of their lives through the good and the bad, most people only stick around for the good then give up on it all together." Reaching into his pocket, Nick pulled out a clean tissue, handing it over to Libby as some ice cream dribbled down her chin.

"Thanks, so do you know anyone that's divorced?"

Nick nodded, "My sister Vicki just finalised her divorce."

"Did they have kids?" He nodded again. "Did they ruin the marriage?"

"No, I don't think so. They got married when they were around twenty, but they didn't have kids until four years later though. I think... they just grew apart though. The kids had nothin' to do with it."

"What do they do for Christmas?" She queried. "You know, with the kids."

"Um... everyone goes over to my parent's ranch at Christmas." He remembered. "I guess her husband won't be goin' this year, just like me."

"Why, because you have a boyfriend?" She bluntly asked him. "I don't get people. I've lived around all sorts of people, but I still don't understand them. I wish I was born in a different time, you know when people just loved each other unconditionally and what you look like, your skin colour, who you love or the clothes you wear don't matter."

Nick smiled up at her. "I think we all wish that, but people are complicated."

"Well it sucks. I never want kids. I'm never getting married. I'm never having sex and I'm not gonna be dumb enough to get pregnant as a teenager either. No offence." She smiled at him. "There was a pregnant girl in the senior year last year. She had twin girls. She had to drop out of school and get a job and all sorts of things. Her boyfriend and her whole family completely abandoned her just like my Mom's did. I'm not saying she shoulda got an abortion, but she coulda given the babies up for adoption or something. All she's gonna do is screw those babies up, along with her own life."

Nick nodded to her as she was very smart for her age. "Do you feel that way about your Mom?"

"Yes." She bluntly answered. "You knew her in Highschool, right? Apparently she was on the verge of becoming a great lawyer or something. Look at her now, a cheap whore with three jobs, a girlfriend with a pierced tongue and four kids." Libby dropped onto one of the benches, pulling her knees close to her chest. "I'm leaving next year. I'll be sixteen."

Nick looked at her surprised. "Leave? Where will you go?"

"Anywhere's better than that house. If it's not my mother's drinking, it's my stupid brothers or that tart Ruby. She's never liked me. She hates anyone with even an inch of brain in their skulls."

"Libby, you can't leave." Nick took a seat on the bench beside her, trying to think of something to say. "Think of your future, don't you wonna get into college and get a good job? You can't decide the rest of your life at fifteen, but you can work towards somethin' so you have options when you do finally leave school."

"I realise you have to say that because you're... you know, my father and all. But I hate school. I hate living at home and I hate dealing with my mother. You have no idea what it's like to be hated by a parent who's supposed to love you no matter what."

"Sure, I have no idea." Nick rolled his eyes. "Libby, you're only fifteen. I know what happens to girls your age when they drop out of school and leave home."

"I'm not going to prostitute myself, that's gross." She cringed.

"I'm pretty sure most prostitutes think that when they first start out. They can't get a decent job with honest wages to pay for food or a place to live, so they resort to sellin' their bodies for almost four times the amount they ever earned before when they had a waitressing job or somethin'. Then before they know it, they're in a lifelong career until they're too old to work anymore or dead from some horrible disease."

"You should totally speak at seminars or something." Libby grinned at him then sighed heavily as she turned to face him. "What if I get my GED and go straight into college? I can get a job then, right?"

"How would you pay for college and to live if you leave home?" He asked her, hoping to change her mind.

"I'll... get a job, not prostitution." She quickly told him.

"You think it's that easy to get a job at your age? Kids your age are lucky to even get a job flippin' burgers, bussin' tables..."

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know that." Libby interrupted him.

"Okay then, so why not just stay in school so you can graduate with a diploma and get into college?" He asked her. "School can't be that bad, you've got a higher GPA then me when I was your age, and if I remember correctly your mother was bein' tutored for math and science because she couldn't keep her grades up."

"How do you know what my GPA is?" Libby inquired, giving him a curious look.

"I'm a CSI." He responded, giving her a slight smile. "Why would you wonna throw all that hard work away because of your mother? You wonna end up like her?"

"Did you wonna end up like your parents?"

"My parents didn't give me any choice. They had really high expectations of us from the moment we stepped foot in school. Bein' a CSI is my compromise in doin' what I want, while still achieving their hopes and dreams of bein' successful and doin' somethin' that matters."

"Why are you still doing it if they kicked you out because you're gay?" She curiously asked him, wiping her sticky hand with the tissue he gave her once she finished her ice cream.

"Because I met Greg through this job, and I still kinda like it. But I didn't get it by chance. I worked hard on my grades then I got into college and worked even harder."

"How am I supposed to know what I'm gonna do though?" She asked him. "I don't want to do anything. I don't have hopes and dreams like most _normal_ people."

"I didn't know what I wanted to do until college. I never thought I'd get married and fall in love until after that either. You're still just a kid, Libby. You're not ready to work and start your future yet."

* * *

Tapping his foot on the waiting room floor, Greg gave out a heavy sigh as he looked towards the clock on the wall then checked his watch again to make sure it wasn't slow or something. "God Nick, where are you?" He complained then looked towards the door as Doctor Simpson stepped into the hall.

"Hi Greg, you ready?" He indicated towards his office door behind him.

Greg looked at the clock then towards the door, expecting Nick to come running in any second, apologising for being late for their first appointment to see their second child for the first time. Since Greg had to see their first child all by himself the first time, Nick had promised he would be there for this one, but he was already running late.

Reluctantly climbing to his feet, Greg grabbed the diaper bag off the chair beside him then wheeled the push chair with his sleeping child off into his doctor's office. "No Nick?" Doctor Simpson asked surprised, pushing the door shut once his patient was inside. "Just you two?"

"Yeah. Sorry, my Mom couldn't look after Danielle today; she's got an appointment with some social services thing for the adoption thing." Greg explained to him as he set Danielle's push chair in the corner of the room.

"That's okay." He assured him, setting up the table for Greg. "You wonna see your baby then, Greg?" He patted the table then moved to turn the monitor on while his patient leisurely made his way over to the table.

"_Doctor Simpson." _A woman's voice called him on his phone. "_There's a Mr Stokes here that requests to see your next patient, Mr Sanders."_

The doctor smiled round at his patient then pushed a button of his phone, replying, "Send him through." The doctor made his way over to the door and opened it, smiling as he saw Nick arriving with a guilty expression on his face for being late to their appointment. "Nice to see you again, Nick." Doctor Simpson greeted him then closed his office door, directing Nick over to the table so he could get started on the ultrasound of their baby.

"Where were you?" Greg asked him as he lifted his t-shirt so the doctor could squeeze a blob of goo onto his stomach, ready for the ultrasound.

"I had an emergency." Nick replied, removing his jacket as he stepped up beside where Greg was laying to look at the monitor. "I'm sorry I was late, but you know I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"What kind of emergency?"

"The kind that requires me to talk my daughter out of quittin' school." Nick explained to him. "She wants to drop out of school and leave home."

The doctor cocked one eyebrow in confusion, looking towards the sleeping infant who still had a pacifier in her mouth, wondering why she would need convincing to stay in school when she hadn't even started yet.

"You coulda called, Nick. Just to let me know you were running late or on your way." Greg mumbled then turned his head away from his fiancé as the doctor took his seat, lifting the ultrasound device from the machine to take a look at the baby inside his patient's belly.

"Okay Greg, let's see what's inside." Doctor Simpson smiled at him as he turned on the ultrasound machine, getting it set up for his patient.

"I would have called, but I was in the heat of discussion, tryin' to get her to stay _in_ school, so she doesn't end up like her mother. Would you prefer that I just left her there to quit school, run away from home and became another disease infested prostitute?" Nick snapped at his partner.

"No, but a simple text or call would have been really helpful." The younger man pointed out to him, watching the monitor as the doctor moved the device around, searching for the baby.

"I'm sorry that I ignored you for a brief second while I was worryin' about my daughter's future, that _clearly_ isn't that important to you Greg, but I got here as quick as I could." The Texan explained, not noticing the doctor's uncomfortableness from the awkward situation he was placed in as his patient continued to fight with his partner.

"There's your baby." He finally announced. "Oh, and there's another one."

"What?" Nick and Greg chimed in together, stopping their arguing for a brief moment so they could look at the weird little raisin sized objects inside of Greg's stomach.

"Are you sure?" Nick asked, leaning further across the table where Greg was laying to try and get a better look. "How do you know they're even babies?"

"I _am_ the doctor, Mr Stokes." He chuckled softly. "I'd say you're around about... five or six weeks, Greg. You're definitely pregnant. The babies are about the size of a sesame seed at the moment, they're very tiny and don't look very baby like... but they have heart beats." Zooming in on one of the small specks, the doctor pointed out the small flicker inside the tadpole looking thing. "See there's one there... and there another one there... wait a minute, is that another one?" The doctor moved the device round on Greg's stomach, counting the heartbeats. "Nope, I was right... definitely two." He pointed to one of the flickers on the monitor. "You see these egg yolk looking things here, you see em? They look kinda like when you break two eggs into a frying pan at the moment. Well they're your two little babies, growing side by side each other."

Nick and Greg stared at the monitor in disbelief. "Two of em?" The Texan asked shocked, slipping his hand into Greg's.

"Yep, you're definitely having twins." He smiled towards the expecting parents, then moved the device around on Greg's stomach. "There's two sacs, you see that there." Nick and Greg both nodded to him. "It's a little early to see much, but you can sort of make out their heads." He pointed out to them. "There's baby A... let me just," Nick held Greg's hand tighter while the doctor adjusted some settings on the monitor to zoom in even more. "There's baby A, you can see the slight flicker there." He smiled at Nick as he moved the device to see the second baby. "And there's baby B, you can't see the heart flicker as well as the other baby, he appears to be much smaller, but you can just sort of make him out. Congratulations."

"He?" Nick asked.

"Oh, no I meant... they, you can't actually tell the sex yet." The doctor smiled at the two of them. "There they are, let me print you off some pictures then we'll get you checked out, Greg."

Nick looked at the monitor a moment longer in disbelief then turned his gaze towards Greg at his side. He gave the equally shocked man a slight smile, clutching his hand tighter as he murmured, "Twins."

* * *

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews so far, I hope you're enjoying this story as much as the first one. And I hope you liked the little surprise at the end of this chapter too :D Thanks to Alisa my beta for helping me with this chapter too :D**

**Thanks for reading! Please review! **

**Have a great weekend guys!**

**~ Holly**


	13. Chapter 13: A Time to Celebrate

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews guys! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, don't forget to review!**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: A Time to Celebrate**

"Okay, baby A . . . the heart beats about, one hundred and twenty beats per minute. That's very good." The Doctor reported, as he jotted it down, letting them hear the babies 'subway train' sounding heart beat, before he moved the monitor onto the second baby, watching the parents faces as he played the second heartbeat. Smiling as he recorded it down on his charts to monitor each of the babies' growth over the next nine months, Doctor Simpson reported, "Baby B, the heart beats only ninety beats per minute. I shouldn't worry about it just yet though, it's still very early." He assured them, as Nick's eyes suddenly widened. "At this stage their hearts have only just began beating, so it's nothing to worry about."

Nick watched as the doctor typed 'Baby A' above the bigger egg yolk then wrote 'Baby B' over the smaller one, before he printed them their first picture over, handing it over to Greg, before he wiped the goo from his stomach then turned the lights on. He left them alone for a moment while he filed his patient's charts into his folder, getting ready to give them some information of what was in stall for them for the upcoming months.

"They look like tadpoles." Greg climbed off the table, turning the picture on its side, as he followed Nick over towards the empty chairs in front of the doctor's desk.

Doctor Simpson chuckled softly as he closed the top draw of his desk, "It's completely normal for the growing embryos inside of you to look more like tadpoles then a human at this stage. At this stage the fetuses are just a clump of cells, getting ready to develop into the head, spine and organs. Your placenta is just starting to develop too that will nourish the babies while they grow, so there's nothing wrong with the tadpoles in yah belly." He smiled at him.

Greg smiled back as he continued to admire the little tadpoles on the picture in his hands.

"Twin births are much more common today than they were years ago because of..."

"Whoa, but twins!" Greg interrupted his doctor, clutching Nick's hand tighter. "How'd I end up pregnant with twins? I only wanted one."

"Well, I guess you just got lucky." Doctor Simpson looked towards Nick, who seemed to be taking it better then nodded to his patient. "Today, one in thirty two births is a twin birth. They're just a lot more common now, because of all the drugs and fertility treatments that people use to increase their chances of conception." He explained to him. "Fraternal twins are a lot more common than identical twins though, because more eggs are released from the drugs people use nowadays. It's more common for twins to be delivered earlier than the nine month waiting period with a singleton baby too." He reached into his desk draw, retrieving an information packet for them on twin births. "Unfortunately there's more problems that come with twin births. The most common problem is usually with the babies' heart rate during the labour, which usually requires an emergency c-section. But you won't have to worry about that, since you've been through it before."

Nick looked at his scared lover, deciding to ask some of the questions on his mind so they could get out of there and he could properly calm Greg down about it. "You said they're delivered earlier than singletons, so what's the due date?"

"Yes they are earlier, week thirty seven is usually considered full term for twins. Your due date will be around the seventeenth of August next year, but they might have to be delivered earlier than that. We have to monitor them a couple of weeks before that, monitoring their heart beats and making sure that baby A... the baby closest to the opening is head first, ready to be naturally delivered, but usually baby A is in the breech position, bottom first. So we have to schedule a c-section to get both babies out. You won't necessarily have to worry about that anyway, we'll do like we did with Danielle and wait for your waters to break or the contractions to start. Unless the babies are in any immediate danger, they'll be delivered the same as Danielle."

"The twins."

"Yes." Doctor Simpson nodded to Greg, giving him a slight smile. "You have nothing to worry about, Greg. You should consider yourself very lucky that you managed to get pregnant this soon and to twins of all things."

* * *

"Why can't you live with your Dad?" Darci Spencer asked her friend Libby, as she dropped into one of the empty seats at the table. Libby had decided to tell all her friends Darci and Halle about her real father Nick, now that she had gotten the chance to know him a little, minus a few details, as she knew her friends wouldn't be as accepting over him as she was.

Setting the lunch tray from her hands onto the table, Darci asked, "You said you've been seeing your Dad lately, right? So why can't you go live with him? He's gotta be better than your Mom."

"She can't, Dad's never want their kids." Halle Carson complained, speaking from her own experience of separated parents, as she stuffed her face with French fries. "They just want their stupid tart girlfriends and force you to go clothes shopping with the stupid woman young enough to be your big sister. It's gross. And they're planning on having another freaking baby, as if he's completely forgotten about the five kids he already had!" She snapped, "Then they make plans to see you, making you believe that they actually want to see you again, but they cancel the plans last minute, so you end up stuffing yah face with ice cream over the stupid prick..."

"Wow Halle, you really know how to put things in perspective." Darci giggled, then looked towards Libby, as her friend started to anxiously chew the straw in her milkshake. "Don't listen to her, Libby. Your Dad must want you around if he tracked _you_ down. Why would he go to all the trouble if he didn't at least want to see you?"

"He'll lose interest eventually. They always do. I give it... two months, tops." Halle calculated, chewing on another French fry. "Parents don't really care, we're like collectable cards that you stuff in a draw and forget about."

"Shut up, Hal! What do you know?" Darci scowled at her, kicking her under the table to make her shut up. "Libby, you should ask your Dad. He's determined to keep you in school, so he must care about you. You should go live with your Dad; he'll keep you in school and actually care about you, unlike that other... B – I – T – C – H." She spelled out in a low whisper, in case any of the teachers overheard her.

"You're such a prude." Halle smirked, flinching as Darci kicked her again. "Ouch! What do you know about Dad's, anyway Darc? Yours walked out on you when you were three, and you haven't seen him since."

"My _real_ Dad, yeah." Darci nodded to her. "My step father, Jerry has been around since I was eight. He sees his kids from his first marriage once a month, thanks to his ex-wife's lawyer, but he's been like a real father to me."

"Whatever." Halle sighed, fiddling with her ponytail. "Dad's don't care about kids, that's why women carry the babies..."

"Shut up!" Darci went to kick her again, hitting nothing but air, as Halle moved out of the way. "You're not helping Libby here, Hal. You're just jealous, because her father actually wants to spend time with her."

"As if." Halle scowled at her. "I don't wonna see my father." She stubbornly folded her arms across her chest.

"Ugh, just ignore her." Darci turned to look at Libby again, not noticing that she was acting completely uncharacteristic today, with her sudden silence and lost in space look. "Your Dad seems to want you way more than that stupid idiot mother of yours, Libby. She told you if she had the choice to abort you again, she'd do it. What kinda mother says that to their kids?"

"Hers." Halle chuckled.

"Shut up, Hal. I'm serious." Darci warned her, sternly shaking her finger at her. "Your mother has been jumping from one man to another your whole life; I'm surprised she isn't dead from some horrible HIV disease or something."

Halle rolled her eyes at her, resting her elbow on the table. "You don't die from HIV, Darc."

"Yeah you do, just very slowly." Darci argued.

"She is gay though, so she's bound to get it."

"God, you are so stupid, Halle. That's guys." Darci practically shouted at her friend. "Women can't get HIV, it's a guy disease."

"No it isn't." Halle pushed her tray aside, looking her friend in the eye. "HIV is short for human immunodeficiency virus. It's a virus that attacks your white blood cells. Anyone can get it, and it can be in your blood, saliva or anything, Dummy." She spat at her.

Darci gave out a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes at her friend. "What do you know about HIV?"

"Heck of a lot more than you."

"Whatever, I wasn't even talking about that. I was talking about Libby's father. You should go live with him, unless he lives in some dingy bachelor pad, but I suppose anywhere's better than your mother's. She always leaves your brothers home alone to fend for themselves and that dyke she lives with is disgusting. I can't believe she got her lady parts pierced; can you imagine how painful that would be?"

"Lady parts? It's called a vagina, Darc." Halle giggled. "My sister's boyfriend got his thingy pierced. He convinced her to get one of her nipples pierced."

"Oh my god, that's gross." Darci shivered, thinking about how painful that could be.

"Would you guys just shut up, you're not helping." Libby finally snapped at them, pushing her milkshake aside as she didn't feel like drinking anymore. "I can't live with my Dad; he has a boyfriend and a two year old daughter."

"Ew, you never said your Dad's a homo." Darci cringed, dropping her sandwich back to her tray. "No wonder your mother left him, that's disgusting. I feel really sorry for you."

"There's nothing wrong with him! And she didn't leave him, he left her." Libby corrected her.

"Yeah, if I went out with your Mom, I'd turn gay too." Halle laughed, immediately stopping as Libby suddenly scraped her chair back then grabbed her books and bag off the table before she stormed away. "Libby, I was kidding!" She shouted after her.

"Nice going, Hal." Darci remarked.

"Me? You were the one who bad mouthed her father." Halle grabbed her bag off the chair beside her, giving her friend an angry frown, before she stormed away herself.

"What did I say?" Darci shouted after them, being left alone at the table to eat lunch by herself.

* * *

"Hi." Nick greeted Libby as she climbed into his truck after school. "How was school?" Libby responded with a shrug, pulling her seatbelt on down over her shoulder. "Okay, I can already tell somethin's wrong, because you usually give me a book report on your day whether it's good or bad."

"It's nothing." Libby folded her arms across her chest, staring out of the window as Nick slowly pulled away from the school.

A chill rippled down Nick's spine from the eerie silence in the car. Ever since he had met Libby she had talked nonstop. "Libby, you know you can tell me anythin' that's on your mind. I may have been absent for half your life, but I'm still your..."

"I know." Libby cut him off, turning her head to look at him. "I'm never gonna be able to make anyone happy, no matter what I do. Least of all my parents."

"Is that what you...?"

"Nick, why did you find me?" She interrupted him again. "Was I a mistake in your life that you were beginning to regret, while being with Greg or did you really wonna find and get to know me?"

"Um... a little of both." He confessed. "I've been wonderin' what you'd be like for years now, Libby. I always regretted throwin' yah mother out of my life that day. I don't know why I didn't try and look for you sooner, I guess... I just figured that Valerie got the abortion."

"Do you wish she had?"

"No." He quickly answered her, shaking his head as he looked round at her. "I definitely don't."

"So, do I get to see you over Christmas?" She queried, changing the subject.

"If you want to." He nodded, turning off towards her street. "Greg wouldn't mind havin' you over. It's Danielle's third birthday on Christmas Eve, you're welcome to come over for that if you want." Nick suggested to her, pulling his truck up outside of her house. "When do you break for holidays?" He queried, watching her removing her seatbelt.

"Week before Christmas."

"Well you have my number, as long as you check with your Mom; I can take you out somewhere or you can come over and meet Greg any time you want. Or we could go bowlin' maybe, ice skatin'... although I have to warn you I'm a terrible ice skater. Greg's so much better than me."

Libby smiled at him, holding her bag in her hands. "We could do. My Mom doesn't care what I do though." She informed him as she climbed out his truck. "And I don't wonna intrude on yours and Greg's Christmas or your little girl's birthday party."

"You won't be." He assured her, "Greg really wants to meet you, and I'm sure Danielle does too. She loves meetin' new people. You won't be intrudin'."

"Okay." She gave him a slight smile then pulled her bag on over her shoulder. "Bye, Nick. Thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome." Nick smiled back at her, watching her as she closed the passenger side door to his truck then made her way up the path towards her front door, fumbling with the keys in her pocket to get inside. He waited until she was in the house before he pulled away, thinking about the joint custody agreement that Catherine suggested to him at work the other day.

The last thing he wanted to do was drag his daughter through lawyers and the whole court system to get joint custody of her, but more than anything, he wanted her to be happy.

* * *

The news of twins were finally began to settle into Greg's mind, making him feel more excited about meeting the two new babies that were growing inside of him. Unfortunately, the pregnancy side effects decided to hit him like a ton of bricks the following week, making him feel lousy about the whole pregnancy thing, again.

"Greg." Nick called out to him, as he gently tapped on the bathroom door. As he heard a faint reply, he slowly made his way inside, finding Greg sat beside the toilet with a sleepy expression on his face. "I got you a can of 7UP and some crackers. The doctor said because you're experiencin' early symptoms, you have to..."

"I know Nicky, I was there too." Greg lifted the can from Nick's hands, giving him an awkward smile, as he didn't mean to snap at him again. "Sorry, and thank you." He indicated towards the can in his hands. Greg took a swig of the can then handed it over to Nick, sleepily leaning back against the shower door behind him. "Maybe you should just go to this lab party tonight by yourself." He suggested.

"I'm not goin' without you."

"Nicky, I'm gassy, bloated and I feel as though I'm gonna pass out. There's no way I'm stepping foot out that door like this." Greg snapped at him then crunched on one of the crackers in his hands, feeling his stomach growling from the lack of food inside of him. "I just wonna go to bed."

"Okay, I just meant... I don't wonna go, if you're not comin' with me. It's just some dumb Christmas party thing they decided to do anyway, we don't have to go." Nick assured him as he handed him back the can of 7UP from his hands. "I'll stay here to look after you. You've been throwin' up all week since our doctor's appointment."

"I know." He groaned, beginning to complain again, "I'm the one who's been throwing up and taking all sorts of prenatal vitamins and eating stupid healthy food for you and your offspring. And I'm farting. And burping. And getting fatter..."

"You have not got fatter."

"You haven't seen me naked in a week, what would you know." Greg scowled at him, holding the cold soda can to the side of his head. "I feel like I'm gonna explode from both ends."

"Honey, you wonna move to the bed?" He suggested, ignoring his lover's flood of emotions that had been happening a lot more frequently lately.

"Yes." Greg set the can of soda down on the lid of the toilet seat, waiting for Nick to climb to his feet before he reached his hand up for him. "Ow, ow, ow... don't touch." Greg winced, pushing Nick's hands away from his chest as the older man attempted to stabilise him.

"What, did I hurt you?"

"No. My girly man boobs are sore." Greg whined, covering his hands over his chest as Nick gave him a funny look. "Don't say anything." He warned him then stepped around him, grabbing his toothbrush to brush his teeth.

"Baby, I wasn't gonna say anythin'." Nick assured him, wetting a cloth to hold against his partner's forehead. "Did you want me to make you some soup or anythin'?"

"No, I'm okay." He shook his head, thoroughly brushing all of his teeth to get the taste of the morning sickness out of his mouth.

"Don't put it back; we've got clean ones in the draw."

"You're such a germaphobe." Greg snickered softly.

"Am not." Nick grabbed the toothbrush Greg just used; dumping it into the trash can, while Greg grabbed himself a clean one from the draw, dumping it into the cup beside Nick and Danielle's.

"You realise I'm gonna be throwing up a lot more, so you're gonna have to replace my toothbrush all the way through my first trimester." Greg pointed out to him, as he headed off into the bedroom to crash on the bed.

"Well, I guess you'll just have to keep that one for your first trimester then we can getcha a new one after that." Nick followed him into the bedroom, helping him change out of his clothes so he could get comfortable under the covers. "Are you sure you don't want anythin'?"

"No. Stop fussing over me, Nicky." Greg stretched out on the bed, placing one hand over his upset stomach. "Go away; you're annoying in protective mode."

"I just want to know if somethin's hurtin' or if you're in pain, because I love you." He explained, taking a seat on the bed beside him.

"I'm sorry." Greg spoke softly, reaching out for Nick's hand at his side. "I know I've been a real bitch to live with this past week."

"Oh really, I hadn't noticed." Nick chuckled softly as he brushed his thumb across the back of his partner's hand. "Don't worry about it baby, I know it's the change of hormones in your body, and with two babies it's gonna be double what it was with Danielle..."

"Oh god, really?"

"Most likely." He nodded to him, leaning down to his level to press a kiss to his forehead. "Do you want me to get you anythin'?"

"My old body back?" He grinned at him. "I'm kidding, but maybe you could go through this stage of pregnancy for me? I barely leave the toilet anymore."

"That part will be over before you know it." He assured his younger lover then lay down on the bed beside him, snuggling against the pillow with Greg.

"Don't touch the chest." Greg warned him, as Nick placed one of his hands on his stomach.

"I wasn't goin' to." Nick touched a kiss to the side of his head, gently rubbing his hand in circles across the younger man's tummy. "Your bodily functions really don't bother me Greg, so you can tell me anythin'. It's not gonna make me love you any less or gross me out..."

"Your boyfriend lost his balls and traded them for breasts, a protruding stomach, constant puking and gas." Greg chortled, "Any other guy would be running for the hills right now."

"Not me." Nick assured him, taking a look at Greg's chest for himself. "I don't know what you're complainin' about baby, they've hardly changed in size. I'm still bigger, in all departments." He cheekily rasped as he ran his hand across Greg's inner thigh.

Greg giggled softly, pushing Nick's hand away from his groin. "You wonna get the measuring tape out again, Stokes?" He grinned against his fiancés parted lips. "That half inch counts, cowboy."

"Not to me." Nick shook his head, gently feathering his fingertips down the side of his partner's cheek. "I can't believe it's only a week until Christmas. It's gone by so quick."

"We don't have a Christmas tree or a single wrapped present, either." Greg pointed out to him.

"We've been busy." Gently rubbing his palm in circles across Greg's stomach, Nick sighed softly before speaking, "You know, the other week I asked Libby if she wanted to come over for Danielle's birthday or Christmas to get to know you two. She breaks for holiday this week, so I told her to call me if she wanted to come over." He explained to him. "Are you still up for meetin' her like this?"

"If she really wants to." He nodded. "I thought kids hated the boyfriends or girlfriends of their parents?"

"Nope." The Texan shook his head. "I've told her all about cha, baby. And who could ever hate you anyway? You're easy to get along with." He assured him. "And I was thinkin', I know we've kinda got a lot on our plates right now, what with the upcomin' weddin' and the babies on the way, but I was thinkin' that maybe I could go for joint custody of Libby, so I get to see her more and have her for holidays and things."

"You asking for my permission, Tex? Because you know you can. You don't have to ask me. The space is gonna be kinda awkward when the babies come, but we could set her up a room for when she's over, so she feels more at home here." The younger man suggested. "We shoulda gotten a bigger house."

"It was in our price range when you were pregnant with Danielle." Nick reminded him. "If we didn't buy this place we'd have been stuck in your little apartment with the baby."

"Danielle was made in that apartment, if I remember correctly." Greg cheekily grinned up at him. "With the left over college money that my parents gave us, I'm sure we can afford a new house if this one gets too crowded though, Nicky."

"That money is _yours_, Greg."

Greg shook his head. "Nuh uh, it's _ours_. My Dad said it's for us and our children. That means we can spend it on whatever we want. Like butt implants, a car or a new house."

Nick gave him a funny look. "Butt implants?"

"You never know, you are an ass man after all... I don't exactly have much of an ass."

"You're perfect, just the way you are." Nick smiled to him.

"Ow. Don't touch." Greg pushed Nick's hand away from his chest again. "They hurt. I feel fat and bloated too."

"You're beautiful." Nick smiled at him, carefully straddling the younger man's hips.

"No Nicky, I couldn't possibly have sex with you right now. I'm completely exhausted."

"Who said I wanted sex?" Nick gently captured the younger man's bottom lip between his own, pulling him into a playful kiss. "I love you baby, so much."

"I know you do." Greg smiled up at him. "You can still go to the party thing though. Warrick and Sara will be expecting you to go."

"Are you sure? I don't wonna leave you alone when you're like this."

"I'd prefer to be alone like this." He chuckled softly, cupping Nick's cheeks in his hands to ignite another kiss. "Go. I'll call you if I need you. You don't wonna be on vomit watch all night anyway."

"You better call me if you need me." Nick warned him. "I'll just stay for a few minutes then I'll be right back."

"Okay." Greg nodded to him, smiling softly as Nick leant down to snatch a quick goodbye kiss. "I'll be fine, Nicky. Danielle's sleeping over my Mom's tonight, so I won't have to get out of bed for her. I'll just be sleeping, okay? I love you."

"Okay. Love you too." Nick winked at him then scrambled off the bed to change his clothes, ready for the Christmas party at the lab, just a week before Christmas.

* * *

"Oh my god, I think I'm going through menopause." Jean threw back the bed covers, fanning herself from the heat. Giving out a heavy deep breath, Jean moaned, "I'm sweating like a freaking pig."

"The heating is off, and it's not that hot in here." Daniel pointed out to her as he clutched the covers tighter to his chest, feeling a slight chill in his bones. "You thought you were going through menopause last year, but it was just a heat stroke." Her husband reminded her. "Maybe you're just nervous because you haven't seen Greg in a week."

"No, I think it's just me... I'm old. I'm going through flipping menopause." She sobbed, brushing her hand through her sweaty hair. "Greg's been talking to me on the phone now, so I'm not too worried about him. It is strange how he's been avoiding me though. Nicky's been picking up and dropping off Danielle a lot more this past month... I figured maybe Greg's just busy or something."

"You said you saw Greg."

"Yeah, but he was asleep when I saw him." Jean fanned herself with her hands again, inhaling deep breaths to try and cool herself down. "Do you think he's just upset or something because he hasn't been able to get pregnant yet? I keep telling him he just has to keep trying." Jean laughed softly then started to sob again. "I'm encouraging my son to get pregnant, while my last eggs on its way out. I'm gonna die a dried up old hag. It's so unfair."

"What's unfair?"

"My mother didn't go through menopause, until she was in her mid fifties. I'm only forty six. It can't be over now."

"Honey, it's not over. It's a natural..."

"Oh what do you know? You're a man." She cut him off. "Everything's natural to you men. You go through puberty with raging boners and chest hair. What's so bad about that? We bleed; lose complete control of our bodies. It's just a whole lifetime of leaking, swelling up like a pin cushion and spotting your best undies. We pull our hair out from the raging emotions, and all we hear from you lot is 'it must be that time of the month'. Not to mention the fact that we carry the bloody babies for you then when it's all over we get this. God must have been a man; because he sure gives you lot all the advantages in the later life. Men are pathetic really; you don't have to contribute anything in the circle of life expect a wad of spunk."

"Danielle's right down the hall." He pointed out to her, unable to think of something to say to defend himself or his gender.

"Now I've got to go through this while you go and find yourself some twenty year old, college grad student or something to satisfy your sexual needs while your sweating blob of a wife is gonna forget where her freaking keys are, loose her hair and be crying her eyes out over the slightest problem." She sobbed, holding her head in her hands. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Honey, I'm not gonna leave you. I said for better or worse, and I meant it."

"Worse is right, mister." She scowled at him. "You think I'm bad now, wait till the mood swings start up. I'll be a bitch to live with until the day I die." Jean climbed out of bed and rushed towards the bathroom in tears.

Daniel stared at the door a moment, trying to think of something to say to cheer her up, but he couldn't think of anything after she had practically just made it out to be all his fault for being a man.

* * *

The Christmas holidays seemed to have come hard and fast, Nick hadn't even noticed it was nearly Christmas until he drove by all the stores in town, covered with Christmas decorations that lit up the town even more than usual. He had yet to decorate his own house, having been too busy work and trying to get to know the daughter he just found.

Christmas used to be the worst time of his year, because he would have to fly all the way over to Texas, just to be alone on Christmas while he watched his family excitedly unwrapping presents and having a home cooked meal with everyone while they discussed their latest achievements, such as another baby on the way or a promotion at work.

Christmas used to be the loneliest time of his year, but now he had his very own family to celebrate it with, at the price of never being able to have the big family get together in Dallas again.

Finally reaching the lab, Nick checked the pictures in his sun visor, smiling as he looked at the baby picture of Danielle from her first Christmas and the picture of Danielle and Greg together on her first birthday. He couldn't wait to celebrate another Christmas with his new family again, but he couldn't help but worry about what his daughter, Libby's Christmas was going to be like.

As soon as he entered the lab, the noise of the busy lab masked the sound of the Christmas music playing from down the hall, where a few of the labs night shift crew were having their small Christmas party.

"Hey Nicky," Catherine greeted the young CSI, waiting for him to shrug off his coat, before she handed him one of the small glasses of eggnog from her hands. "We were just about to start the secret Santa without you."

Nick smiled at her then looked around the room at the slightly more Christmassy, night shift crew. Grissom had opted to wear a hand knit Christmassy sweater, while Brass was wearing his usual attire with a Christmas pudding covered red tie to enhance his holiday spirit while on the job.

"Nice tie, Jim." Warrick smirked, handing the police Captain a glass of eggnog. "Where'd you get it?"

"Thanks. My lady friend gave me a whole set for Christmas. I got spares if you want one?"

"No, I'm fine." He laughed. "But who's this certain lady friend?"

"Me to know, you to keep your nose out." The man tapped his nose then made his way over to Grissom to compliment him on his Christmassy sweatshirt that his mother bought him for Christmas.

"Hey Nick, you leave Greg at home?" Warrick greeted him.

"Yeah, he's not feelin' too good, so I told him I'd come see you guys for a few minutes before I head home."

"No Nicky, you've gotta come to the dinner." Catherine complained as she overheard him. "Grissom's taking us all out to dinner after. You don't wonna miss out on this extremely rare occasion."

"Yeah, Nick. C'mon, you gotta come with us." Warrick agreed with her.

Nick looked between then two of them then gave out a sigh of annoyance. "Fine. I'll go to the dinner thing, but I have to get back to Greg."

"What's wrong with Greg?" Sara asked, joining the conversation.

"He's..." Remembering he was sworn to secrecy about the pregnancy, Nick tried to think up another excuse that they would believe, "Um... he's just... really sick. Stomach flu or somethin'."

"Oh my god, he's pregnant!" Catherine suddenly shouted, alerting the attention of the whole room.

"Greg's pregnant?" Mandy asked surprised, rushing over to hear the news.

"No, no... I didn't say pregnant." Nick rushed to explain.

Having overheard that Greg was pregnant again, Judy the receptionist decided to join in on their conversation. "Congratulations Nick, so when's the baby due?"

* * *

Climbing into bed beside his lover a few hours later, Nick watched the younger man slowly stirring awake, sensing his presence beside him. "Hey there, sleepy head," Nick whispered softly, gently brushing his fingertips through his partner's tousled hair. "You doin' okay?"

"I didn't throw up anymore." Rolling onto his side, Greg suppressed a yawn as he looked up into his fiancés eyes. "So, how was it?"

"Pretty borin'." He shrugged, propping himself up on his elbow as he affectionately brushed his fingers through Greg's hair. "Warrick was so bored he decided to make a fort out of mashed potatoes. Sara got that mouse trap game from secret Santa; you know the little marble thingy that goes..."

"Yeah, I know it." Greg smiled at him.

"We ended up playin' it across the table at the restaurant, when Grissom took us out to dinner." He smiled, then reached for the wrapped present that he set on his bedside table before he lay down. "Here's your secret Santa present." He handed it over to his partner.

"What did you get?" The younger man queried, gently shaking his present to try and guess what it was.

"They made me wear it." Nick unzipped his hooded sweatshirt, revealing the bright red t-shirt that said, 'If you think I'm cute, you should see my boyfriend'. "I figured it was either Catherine or Brass, since they were the ones who insisted I wear it." Nick reached into his sweatshirt pocket, unfolding the smaller t-shirt, toddler sized that read, 'If I look funny, it's because my Daddy dressed me.'

"That's got Catherine written all over it." Greg giggled softly, taking a closer look at the cute little t-shirt for Danielle. "Definitely Catherine, she even got the size right."

"Go on then, open your present." The older man insisted, eager to see what he got.

"I don't wonna ruin the surprise." Greg grinned at him, setting it down on his bedside table. "I'll open it on Christmas."

"That's no fun." Nick pouted at him. "Since when do you ever wonna wait to unwrap a present?" Greg gave him a slight shrug as he placed his hands on his stomach. "Honey, you can't keep worryin' about this. There was a reason why you lost..."

"I know." Greg interrupted him. "I'll feel better when I'm in my second trimester. They say if you've had one, you're more likely to have..."

"You won't." Nick cut him off, placing his hand over the top of Greg's. "You have to think positive, baby. Our twins are gonna continue to grow until they're ready to come out. Just focus on the positive, honey. Nothin' bad is gonna happen. The doctor told us that it _is_ possible to have another perfectly healthy baby after a miscarriage."

"I'm sorry." Greg whispered to him. "I'm trying to be excited about this, I really am, but I just keep worrying every minute that they're gonna die and I'm never gonna get to see them."

"The books say that too." He pointed out to him, snuggling closer to comfort him. "They say it's normal for someone to feel more worried than they are excited about conceiving another baby, after a miscarriage. It's a way of protectin' yourself from the loss, so you won't get too attached to the new baby in case you lose it like the last one."

"You're reading baby books already?"

"Yeah, I have to do somethin' to help you. I wish I could carry the baby for you..."

"Babies." Greg corrected him.

"Right." Nick remembered, "I really wish I could carry them for you baby. But I can't, so I'm gonna do everythin' that I can to make sure you're comfortable and happy." He assured him then touched a gentle kiss to his lips, before he shed the rest of his clothes and climbed into bed with his lover, spooning his lover tightly in his arms. "Goodnight, baby." He whispered against his neck.

"G'night." Greg replied, leaning back into his embrace. "Oh and Nicky, I'm totally cool with Libby coming here for Christmas and everythin', but how are you gonna explain the pregnant boyfriend thing to her?"

"Oh yeah." Nick remembered, anxiously biting his lip, as he remembered something else he had forgotten to tell Greg that he let slip at the lab. Cuddling the younger man tighter, so he wouldn't be able to hit him or be mad at him for something that wasn't his fault, Nick whispered, "You remember how you said you didn't want anyone to find out you were pregnant until you were... at least in your second trimester?"

"Yeah." Greg turned his head to look at him, giving him a curious look. "Why?" One look at the Texan's guilty expression was all it took to figure out what he had done. "Oh My God! Seriously, Nick? You couldn't even hold it in for one freaking day! You only had to wait until I was past thirteen weeks. That's only in bloody February and you spill it the first night out with them?"

"Nuh uh, not the first night." He childishly protested, "And I didn't even tell them. They figured it out by themselves. Not goin' to a party is completely out of your usual Greg Sanders character. You wouldn't miss a party for anythin', that's how they figured it out." He explained to him.

"I'm sure you filled them in on the details though." Greg gently elbowed Nick, rolling out of his embrace to sleep on the other side of the bed, just a few feet away from him.

"Greg, baby I'm sorry. You know that stupid superstition about not tellin' people early on, is just a dumb old wives tale. Just like walkin' under ladders and the steppin' on cracks, breaks your mothers back. None of that craps real! Nothin' bads gonna happen."

"Don't jinx it, you moron." Greg spat at him. "Just keep your trap shut from now on, okay?"

"Okay." Nick agreed, feeling very lonely across the other side of the bed. "You know I'm not very good at lyin' though, baby. It wasn't my fault." He continued to protest, "They woulda figured it out the second they saw you anyway. They're trained observers, remember? And you're worse than me at keepin' things in."

"Shut up."

"You're not gonna hate me forever are you?" Nick queried.

Still annoyed with his lover for letting out his most precious secret to all of their friends, Greg snapped, "I said shut your trap, Nick!"

Nick remained silent for the longest moment, finding it even more difficult to sleep with his lover so far away from him. "Hun, we're gonna need help anyway with buyin' all the stuff for twins. So really, I did us a favour."

"Oh my god, Nick, would you just shut up?" Greg moaned at him, rolling over to face him. "It's hard to stay mad at you when you just keep talking, so would you shut up for five freaking minutes?"

Nick gave him a slight smile, whispering, "So you can be mad at me?"

"Yes!" The younger man shouted in an agitated tone of voice. "I'm going to hit you if you don't stop smiling." He warned him.

"You wouldn't hit me, you love me." Just as Nick finished his sentence, the younger man suddenly pushed him out of the bed, sending him toppling over to the side, landing hard on his bottom. "Ow!" He complained while laughing, as his fiancés actions were completely unexpected. "That really hurt, G."

"Good." Greg tossed him a pillow, sticking his tongue out at him as he looked up at him surprised. "You can sleep there now. And don't even try to get back in this bed, Nicholas Stokes, because I'll shove you out again." He warned him then rolled over to the middle of his bed, to get comfortable.

"You realise Santa's gonna put you on his naughty list for this." Nick spoke softly, hoping to joke himself out of his situation.

"When I bury you alive under the shed because you won't shut up, he'll understand." Greg responded.

"Don't I get a blanket?" Nick asked, rubbing his sore arse. "I'm cold down here, G." Greg reached for the blanket at the end of the bed, throwing it over the side, on top of his fiancé. "This one smells like baby vomit." He whined.

"Go to sleep, Nick!" Greg shouted to him, snuggling against his own pillow.

Nick grumpily adjusted the pillow beneath his head then spread the blanket out across his body, wishing he had just kept his mouth shut when Greg told him to. '_Only eight more months of this to go.'_ Nick thought to himself, counting the days until his loveable, adorable Greg returned, and the scary hormonal Greg only haunted his nightmares.

* * *

**There it is, please let me know what you thought of this chapter. I hope you're still enjoying it. I've got plenty more on the way, just have to find the time to write it :D**

**Thanks so much to Alisa my beta.**

**Have a GREAT rest of you weekend guys!**

**~ Holly**


	14. Chapter 14: Family Diversity

**Hey guys, I'm sorry for the long wait, I've been off sick for a while and couldn't write anything. I'm feeling a lot better now though, so I'll try and start to regularly update my stories again. Thanks for being so patient, and thanks so much for all of your reviews and favouriting for this story so far. I'm so glad you're still enjoying it!**

**Thanks so much to my beta Alisa, you rock girl!**

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: Family Diversity**

Once again, Libby stood in the driveway of her mother's house, waving off the father she always wanted, watching him returning to his happy normal life with another two babies on the way. She gave out a heavy sigh as his car disappeared into the distance, then reluctantly turned towards the front door of her house, immediately smelling cigarettes, and something very familiar to a rotting corpse, or what she imagined one smelled like. "You're home early." Ruby's voice startled her, from the dimly lit front room.

Libby forced a grin towards the woman she despised, making her way straight up the stairs to her room. "What are you doing in here?" She shouted, finding her younger brothers Emmett and Garrett in her room. "That's my stuff!" She screamed, seeing they had gone through her draws. "Don't touch that!" Grabbing the snow globe from Garrett's hands, she forced him aside with her other arm, moving towards Emmett to pry her diary from his grip. "Don't read that! Get out of my room!" She screamed at them.

"Don't hit me. I'm telling Mommy on you!" Emmett childishly stuck his tongue out at her, swiping his arm across her desk, sending the CD's and small trinkets that resided there, crashing to the floor.

"Get out, Idiot!" She screamed at him, tempted to hit him, but she didn't want to sink to her mother's way of dealing with things.

"I know you are, but what am I?" Garrett responded, whining as his big sister shoved him out of her room, slamming the door shut behind them. "I'm telling!" He immediately shouted, hearing his sister cursing at the top of her lungs, as she attempted to salvage the broken items on the floor.

Valerie returned home from her shift an hour later, with another new, potential boyfriend in tow. Libby could tell she was back, as she could hear her mother and Ruby, angrily shouting at one another, as they weren't supposed to bring other people home into the relationship without the others consent.

This made Libby glad that her father was actually in a loyal loving relationship, meaning he would only be with Greg, for the rest of his life. The way things should be.

After Ruby stormed out of the house with a packet of cigarettes and a bloody nose, Valerie's boys decided to tell on their sister, sending Valerie straight up the stairs to tell her daughter off, for hitting her younger brothers.

"Don't you ever wonna hear my side of it!" Libby shouted at her mother. "They were in my room, they broke my things. Look!" She pointed to the broken trinkets on her desk. "You never tell them off for anything. It's always me! I think I know what happens better than them. I'm fifteen."

"Well you're actin' like a five year old, Lib." Her mother scolded her. "They're just little boys. Boys will be boys, Libby." Valerie used the same old excuse. "None of that stuff was really worth anythin' anyway. Just get your Dad to replace it."

Libby frowned at her, refusing to _use_ her father in that way. "_Your_ kids broke them, _you_ replace them!" She shouted at her.

"That's it; you're grounded, young lady!" Valerie returned the yelling. "Don't you ever raise your voice to me again. This stuff was all junk anyway. You don't need it."

"Funny, 'cause I used that same comment on you with your drugs." Libby snidely pointed out to her mother, dropping onto her bed, so she was out of her mother's range of a slap.

"Oh, whatever." Valerie sighed in defeat again. "Listen; watch the boys a moment, Lib's..." Her mother paused to search all of her pockets for a cigarette, finding one behind her ear, right where she left it. "I'm just gonna run out after, Ruby. Make sure Roger... Robbie... Richard, I dunno." She laughed, giving her daughter a shrug. "Make sure that guy downstairs... make sure he stays here. He's on the sofa downstairs. Get the boys some dinner, okay?"

"You're gonna leave your kids alone with a man you just met?" Libby looked at her mother wide eyed.

"He's not dangerous." Valerie snickered, rolling her eyes at her dramatic daughter. "I'll be right back. I just have to make sure Ruby doesn't do anythin'."

"Right, wouldn't want her to end up back in jail." Libby remarked, folding her arms across her chest. "Well when you come home and find us all axe murdered by this _new_ boyfriend guy, make sure you know that _you_ are the one to blame."

"Oh don't be so stupid, yah little tart. He has a wife and kids. Guys like that don't go around murderin' kids." She snapped at her daughter. "Just get your brothers some dinner, and stop answerin' back to me, young lady. I'm gonna slap you if you keep this up. My father woulda had you across his knee, belting you across the arse, missy. You don't know how lucky you are. You're just gettin' too much lately. I should send you out on your arse to work the streets."

"Go ahead; it'd give me an excuse to finally leave."

"Oh get off your high horse, you little tramp. I was never as rude to my mother as you are to me. My father woulda whooped you so hard; you wouldn't be able to sit down for a month." Valerie shouted at her then made her way off down the stairs, telling the Roger, Robbie, Richard guy to stay put, while she rushed out to catch up with her girlfriend.

* * *

After Nick returned home from dropping Libby off, he pulled his truck up into his driveway, taking a moment to turn everything off, before he climbed out the car, and made his way off towards the front door, being greeted by his hyper two year old, as soon as he stepped foot in the house. "Hello, Princess." He greeted her, lifting her into his arms, as she gave him the sweetest smile.

After enjoying a warm hug from his little girl, Nick straightened up, adjusting Danielle against his side then opened his arms to his emotional fiancé, hugging him tightly as he had missed him so much, and his emotions were still on the fritz.

"I made you dinner." Greg announced, locking up the door for Nick, before he led him through to the kitchen, where the counter was set up with knives and forks, ready for them to eat their meal. "I think I kinda burnt it though." Greg grabbed his oven mitt, before reaching into the oven for the tray of sizzling meat. "I tried to do it the way my Mom does it... but I think I left it in too long... or did something wrong..."

"Mmmm, looks delicious!" Nick licked his lips, taking a look at the vegetables boiling on top of the cooker. "Whaddya season it with?" He queried, trying to put a name to the familiar scent in the air.

"Um... black pepper, paprika, mustard and garlic salt." Greg remembered, dishing out the steaks onto the separate plates. "I think that's what my Mom usually uses. It's not like she's answering her phone so I can ask her. She's all of a sudden too busy to talk to me... her real son. As if this new kid they're planning is more important than me."

"You'll always be the most important thing to your mother, G. It's probably her fault that you turned into such a spoilt little brat anyway." Nick chuckled softly, sensing his partner was having an only child freak out. "You've gotta realise that you're all grown up now, so your parents attention will be focused on the new kid, helping him or her to grow up, like they did with you."

"Yeah, but I thought I was gonna have a few months to prepare for the neglect. It's been one month and they're already ignoring my calls."

"Maybe... her phones turned off." He tried to comfort him.

"My mother?" Greg looked round at him wide eyed. "I don't think she knows where the off switch is. I haven't called her in two days, and she's not banging on the door demanding to know I'm alive." He pointed out to him.

"Well... count yourself lucky, you've finally gotcha freedom, G." Nick smiled at him, pecking a kiss to his forehead. "The dinner looks great. What's Danielle got?" He queried, taking a step back to give Greg some room to move around, and so he wouldn't get shouted at with his emotions on the high rise.

"Mashed potato, some of our veggies and I got her some turkey burgers, since she won't eat the tender steaks that you like."

"Thank you." Nick smiled at him then carried Danielle round to her highchair, getting her set up for dinner. He then removed his jacket, offering to help Greg serve dinner, but he tried not to butt in like he usually did, as he really didn't fancy being shouted at, like he had at breakfast time for offering to help him clean up.

"So, how'd it go with, Libby?" Greg asked, handing Nick his finished plate first, before he started to cut Danielle's burger into chewable pieces for her.

"Okay." Nick shrugged, "She's better then she was last week. Apparently her Mom and Ruby are havin' a lot more arguments lately, she thinks they're gonna break up or somethin'."

"Not surprised." Greg muttered, setting Danielle's plate down for her. "Don't turn your nose up, you haven't even tried it." He laughed at her reaction, as soon as she got a closer look at the food he presented her with. "You'll like it, trust me." Greg handed her the Minnie Mouse knife and fork set, watching her trying to grapple them in her hands, before she tried to eat with them, just like her father, Nick was doing. "I think she had a growth spurt since yesterday." Greg suddenly remembered, taking a seat beside, Nick. "You know those jeans you bought her with the glittery butterflies down one leg?" Nick nodded his head. "Well they don't fit her leg anymore. She's growing too tall."

"They were for three year olds." Nick laughed, tilting his head to the side to look at the dungarees Danielle was wearing that did look a little smaller on her. "Hopefully we'll get another girl and she'll get some use out of them then."

"Maybe, I think we're definitely getting a boy this time though." Greg assured him. "It just feels different from Danielle, like maybe a little boy."

"Or maybe it's the fact there's two little people inside of you, instead of just the one." Nick smiled at him. "I hope we do get a boy, but I really wouldn't mind if we got another little girl, or even two little girls."

"Yeah, yeah... we all know you're a ladies' man." Greg suddenly remarked, giggling softly as Nick poked him in the side. "What, you are. Or you _were_ before you crawled into my bed, anyway."

"Nope, I was never a real ladies' man. People just thought I was, because I happen to be good with the ladies. I grew up in a house full of women though, so I'm bound to be better at socialisin' with women then I am with men."

"I think it's 'cause you're just too good looking, and women pick up on looks more than men." Greg interpreted, grinning widely as his fiancé leant closer towards him, snatching a kiss from his lips.

"Well you certainly picked up on my looks." He winked at him. "But if women do pick up on looks more than men, why does Grissom have more women hovering around him then you, baby?"

"Ouch, that hurt." Greg gave him a playful shove away from him. "Maybe they just like the older men with grey hair and a few wrinkles. Women don't want a guy prettier than them." He grinned, sticking his tongue out at him.

"I think you just insulted me when you said that."

"Why?" Greg smiled innocently at him. "Because you've got a few wrinkles here and there, especially around the eyes?" He asked through a grin, gently tracing them with his fingertips. "Ever since I've known you, you've had these beautiful creases by your eyes, and I love them." Leaning forwards, Greg pecked a kiss to the corner of Nick's eye, giving him a wide smile as he pulled back.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with my emotional pregnant, boyfriend?" Nick joked, wondering why he was suddenly complimenting him after hours of screaming at him for doing everything wrong.

"Well, I haven't had any morning sickness since this morning. I had a bubble bath after you left to hang out with, Libby. Then I've been playing with this little angel all afternoon and I feel much more relaxed. Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna kill you for not picking up your socks, when you were the one who made up that stupid rule about dirty laundry in the hamper," He chuckled. "But I feel better. Notice how I can eat without feeling sick or crampy."

"I did notice." Nick nodded, watching another piece of the mouth watering steak, disappearing into Greg's mouth. "Let's just hope this good mood lasts a little longer." Nick smiled at him, hoping to see more of the softer side of Greg, before he had to head into work for his shift.

"It will, but we can't have... you know what, because I'm still gassy and bloated." Greg warned him then pulled his chair closer to Danielle, helping her to actually put the mashed potato in her mouth, rather than down her front.

Greg's good mood lasted for another few hours, until Greg had put Danielle to bed, and started to feel nauseous again, perching himself over the toilet, as he felt ready to hurl. "Here." Nick knelt down behind Greg, handing him a can of soda, ready and waiting for him. "Do you want me to get you anythin' else? You know your mother told me, when you were pregnant with Danielle that ginger beer helps with pregnancy nausea. Or anythin' with ginger in it."

"Ginger beer?" Greg queried, holding the cold can to the throbbing vein on his head.

"Yeah, lots of the pregnancy books recommend ginger too. Maybe I could getcha some gingersnaps or somethin'?"

"And how long have you known this little fact?" Greg queried, turning his head in his hands, to look at Nick beside him.

"I'm sorry, I just remembered it." Nick defended himself, fearing the verbal beating about to hit him, but instead, Greg just hunched over the toilet again, holding his head in his hands. "So do you want me to buy you some, Greg?" The younger man nodded his head, leaning further over the toilet bowl as he finally threw up.

Nick gently smoothed his hand up and down his back for him, trying his best to support him, without aggravating his short temper.

Once Greg was done, Nick reached for the can Greg had set down on top of toilet tank, cracking it open for him to clear the acidy taste from his throat. Nick sat with Greg a moment, just to make sure he was done purging, before he snaked his arms beneath Greg's, helping him to his feet so he could get him off to bed. He hated having to leave him, especially when he was like this, but he had to get off to work, so he wasn't late for his shift.

"Nick, seriously just stop fussing over me." Greg pushed him away then swept the covers off his body as he felt himself burning up. "I'll be fine, just go already. You're starting to annoy me."

"Sorry." Nick returned to getting dressed, watching Greg fanning himself with his hand, from the heat wave he was feeling, that Nick seemed to be immune to.

Nick dropped onto the other side of the bed to pull some clean socks on, giving Greg a cautious look every few seconds, as he was still worried about leaving him while he was still sick.

"Stop staring at me, Nicky." Greg smiled in his direction. "I'm fine. Or I will be in a minute. You have to go to work. You can't take time off now; you need to save up on your vacation time for when the babies are actually born. There's no way I'll be able to handle twins after another c-section, do you remember how I was after, Danielle?"

"Yep, you wouldn't get out of bed for three weeks then you could barely walk." Nick remembered then leant over him to press angel kisses to his eyelids. "I'll see you later."

"Don't I get a better kiss than that?"

"You just threw up and you didn't brush your teeth." Nick pointed out to him, watching Greg curiously as his hand suddenly rushed to cover his mouth. "What, you need to go again?"

"Mm," Greg quickly scrambled over Nick, rushing straight for the bathroom to throw up.

Nick climbed to his feet after him, wetting a wash cloth with some cold water to wipe his mouth. "Greg, baby are you...?"

"I swear to god Nick, if you ask me if I'm okay again... I'm going to hit you." He warned him, grabbing the cloth from his hands to dab his chin. "It's so hot in here." He complained, tugging his t-shirt up over his head. "Why is it so hot in here?"

"It's not, hun. Why doncha have a shower?" Nick suggested, indicating towards it behind him. "You've been sweatin' like this all day..."

"Are you saying I smell now? I cooked that whole dinner for you and now you're telling me I smell?" Greg interrupted him, as he leant back against the bathtub. "God I'm just shouting at you now." He finally realised, dropping his head into his hands. "I'm sorry, it's not your fault... well part of it is. But this isn't supposed to happen this early on. I never got like this with Danielle. I just got fat. There wasn't any mood swings or anything, was there?" Greg lifted his head, looking the older man in the eye. "You'd tell me if there was, wouldn't you?"

"Um..." Nick wanted to tell him the truth and remind him of all his mood swings, but he decided to be nice. "No, no you were fine. You still are. It's not so bad." He smiled softly through his lie, hoping Greg wouldn't notice he was just trying to be nice, as he dropped to the floor beside him. "It's just your body's way of gettin' ready for the babies to grow inside of you." Nick reminded him. "I'm sorry too, if I could go through this for you, I swear would." He assured him.

"Sweet." Greg smiled at him then reached his arms out to him. "I'd settle for a hug though." Just as Nick leant forwards to comply with the request, Greg suddenly blocked him with his arm, "Wait, not yet." He muttered, before he threw himself towards the toilet to throw up again.

"I'll pick up somethin' with ginger after work. Or I can skip the work and just go get it now," Nick suggested, gently rubbing his palm up and down his partner's back, trying to softly sooth him. "Hun, you want it now?" He held his body against him once he was done; sitting him between his thighs, as he gently rubbed his stomach for him.

"No, I'm okay." The younger man shook his head, leaning back into Nick's warm embrace. "I told you, you have to go to work. No excuses."

"Okay." Nick agreed.

"Hey, is the seventeenth of August soon?" Greg suddenly asked.

"Not yet, baby." Nick chuckled softly, touching his lips to the side of his head. "You've got a few months yet, hun." He whispered, holding him tightly to comfort him. "Do you want me to get you anythin' before I go?"

"No, just hold me." Greg closed his eyes, resting his hands over Nick's, as he continued to gently rub his stomach for him. "That feels so much better."

"Good." Nick brushed his lips across Greg's ear, weaving his fingers together with Greg's as he circled his palm across his tender stomach.

Nick tentatively touched a kiss to the side of his head a few minutes later, continuing to gently rub his stomach for him.

"Are you gonna be okay by yourself tonight? I have to be at work in twenty minutes." He reminded him, tapping his watch. "We're goin' bowlin' with Libby tomorrow, remember? You don't have to go if you don't want to though. I'm sure she'll understand."

"Ask me again later." Greg suggested, not knowing how he'd be later. "I'll be fine though, Nicky. Go or you'll be late. I'm going over my Mom's, if the morning sickness passes that is. Since you told everyone that I'm pregnant, I might as well let my mother know... if she still cares about me."

"I didn't tell them." He protested. "They figured it out the second I said you were off sick. They know you would never miss a party for anythin', that's how they all figured out that you were pregnant. I never breathed a word to them."

"Fine, I believe you." Greg reluctantly sighed then leant his head back across his shoulder to talk to him. "Did you tell them we're having twins?" Nick shook his head. "Did you tell them the due date?" He shook his head again. "What _did_ you tell them?"

"Nothin'... much. To get their minds off it I decided to tell them about, Libby. Catherine was really excited, for some weird reason. Warrick and Sara thinks she looks just like me, and Brass gave me the number of a lawyer friend of his, in case I wonna take this custody thing to court. I thought I'd talk to Valerie about it first; see if we can sort things out the civilised way."

"Okay then." Greg smiled to him then pulled out of his arms to crawl his way to the toilet again. Nick gently rubbed his hand across his back, as Greg purged the rest of the morning sickness from his stomach, feeling even more exhausted. "There goes the last meal, that's the last time I'm eating again."

"It'll settle in a few days." Nick assured him, gently rubbing his tummy. "You have to keep eatin' to keep the babies strength up."

"What's the point if I just end up over the toilet five minutes later?" The younger man complained, wiping his chin with the wet cloth. "Everything I eat ends up coming back on me. I've spent most of my time in the bathroom this week."

"Eat things that'll settle your stomach then baby. You _have_ to eat. We'll lose em if you don't."

"So it's my fault again!" He suddenly snapped.

"I never said that." Nick snapped right back. "These mood swings of yours are gettin' fuckin' ridiculous. Would you just stop blamin' yourself and try to be happy about these babies? Otherwise what was the point in us even botherin' gettin' pregnant again?"

"Don't yell at me." Greg snarled back at him. "Let's see how _you_ feel after being up with a cranky toddler all day then throwing everything up that you just ate. _And_ your mother ignoring you after twenty eight years of never leaving me alone. You keep saying you're here to support me, but you just keep shouting at me."

"I'm sorry." Nick raised his hands in defeat. "But I feel like every minute I'm tryin' to convince you that these babies aren't gonna die, but you clearly don't believe me, because you keep thinkin' it. And you're actin' like such a spoilt little brat!"

"Just go to work." Greg pushed him away from him, flushing the toilet again. "And there's nothing wrong with my mood, it's all you. You're an asshole."

"Of course, it's all me." Nick remarked. "How could I have been so blind?" He rolled his eyes as he climbed to his feet, heading straight into the bedroom to get changed out of his vomit smelling shirt, for work. He then made his way into Danielle's room, pressing a kiss to his fingertip then touching it to her forehead, watching her soundly sleeping a moment, before he went back into the bathroom, to check on, Greg.

"Go away." Greg immediately moaned, not wanting him around him.

"Baby, I'm goin' to work now. You sure you don't want me to get you anythin'?"

"No." Greg shook his head from his position over the toilet.

"Honey, I'm sorry for what I said, okay? You know I didn't mean it." Nick assured him, kneeling down beside him. "I'm not goin' to work if you hate me, baby."

"I don't. Just go." Greg closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands from the exhaustion. Nick repositioned himself, gently gathering the younger man up in his arms and resting him against his chest. "You're gonna be late for work." He pointed out to him, relaxing in Nick's warm embrace.

"I don't care. You're more important." Nick whispered against his neck.

"Just go. Leave the emotional wife at home like everyone does. I'll be fine, Nicky. Just get out of here before another one strikes." Greg gave him a slight smile, closing his eyes as Nick pressed a kiss to his temple.

"I'm sorry. I love you." Nick whispered.

"Sometimes I hate you, but I still love you too." Greg responded, giving him a wide smile.

"Okay, I'm goin' now. Call me if you need me. Bye baby." Nick pressed another kiss to the top of his head, then reluctantly pulled back from the comfort of his partner's warmth, slowly leaving the room. He didn't want to leave him home alone with the baby while he was like this, but he couldn't take another day off work to be there for him.

* * *

After a few hours of sleep after his purging, Greg began to feel much better again. He filled up on a healthy breakfast of mainly dry foods, the next morning, finding a packet of gingersnap biscuits set on the counter that Nick must have dropped off, while he was still sleeping. He secretly thanked the gods for ever making a man as sweet as Nick, then rushed to get his daughter dressed and ready to take her over to his mother's house.

"Hello, sweetheart!" Jean cheerily greeted her son in the driveway with a bone crushing hug then lifted her granddaughter down from the back, receiving another hug. "How are you?"

"So you still recognise me?" Greg remarked, "That's something I guess."

"Huh?" Jean looked at him confused, as she looked over her granddaughter in her arms.

"Mom, you've been ignoring me. I called you like seven times yesterday."

"Oh... I'm sorry; I left my phone in the kitchen on charge." She smiled at him. "Have you eaten?" The concerned mother queried, wondering why her son looked so pale.

"Yep, we both have." Greg assured her, carrying his things into the house, after his mother. "It smells like paint."

"Yes... we're repainting the front room. That's why I left my phone in here." Jean pointed to the front room then directed her son through to the kitchen, where she was baking again.

"Mmmm, smells like cookies." Her son purred, taking his daughter off his mother's hands, so she could check on her cookies in the oven.

"Your Nana's dark and light chocolate cookies." Jean announced, setting them down on the side to cool. "Careful, they're hot." She warned her son, giving him a smile as he shook his hot fingers from the pain. "I told you. Your Daddy's just too greedy." She smiled at her granddaughter.

"I love cookies." Greg defended himself, licking his sticky fingers. "Will you ever pass the recipe down to me?" He queried.

"Nope." Jean grinned at him, turning towards the sink to wash the tray.

"How am I supposed to bake cookies for my children then?" He asked her.

"That's what Nana's are for." Jean winked, drying her hands on a towel, before she poured her son and granddaughter a glass of milk each. "Your Nana Olaf wouldn't give me the recipe until you left for college. She said I'd need it when I become a grandmother. If I gave you the recipe, they wouldn't be special every time you came over to visit me." She smirked, clicking the lid over Danielle's cup of milk for her. "You'll get grandchildren one day then you'll see how important it is to give them something special when they come visit, because they have no idea how special they are to you." She smiled at her granddaughter, watching her little fingers curling around her cup. "So, what did you want to tell me that was so important, sweetheart?"

"Oh... um... well I'll kinda need your undivided attention a moment, if you can spare a few of your precious minutes to talk to your first born." He remarked.

"One second, honey. Let me go getcha father then we'll try the cookies." Jean licked her chocolaty fingers then made her way across the hall, to stop her husband from working for a few minutes to take a break.

Greg sighed heavily, as she never listened when he had something important to say. She always had something better to do. Greg took a seat on one of the stools, sitting Danielle on his lap, while he patiently waited for his mother to return.

"Okay," Jean called to her husband then hurried into the kitchen, with a folder under her arm for her son. "Where did I put it?" She muttered to herself.

"What's that?" Greg queried.

"I gotcha a wedding planning checklist, honey. Since you've already announced your engagement and picked a date for the wedding, I've crossed them off," She pointed them out on her checklist. "You asked for a small wedding service, so I think we should pick a small registry office or something. I've been talking to Paula, your neighbour, Anne's mother, and she's found us a gay and lesbian friendly priest that will do the service for you, since Nick wanted the more traditional vows..."

"You and Nick have actually been talking about this?" He interrupted her, surprised.

"Yes, sweetheart. He knows that you don't want the whole vowing your hearts to god and promising to love one another forever, because it sounds so fake, so we tried to come up with a solution." She smiled at her son, giving Greg and Danielle a cookie each, as they had finally cooled down.

"Is this why you've been ignoring me?"

"I wasn't ignoring you, sweetheart. I'll pick the flowers and everything. I've got your invitations for your friends printed up. And please say you want a reception. Your Nana is really excited to cook any food you want for your reception."

"As long as it's small." Greg warned her.

"Of course, you can even have it here." She pointed towards the large garden. "We had a landscape gardener design it and everything. You might as well get some use out of it. And your father and I will pay for everything, including your honeymoon."

Greg looked at her surprised, "Mom, we can't let you do that."

"Sure you can. We're your parents. We want the best for you. And don't worry; you won't have to worry about a thing. Paula and I are going to handle it all for you guys. You'll just need to show up and get married. And most importantly to have fun." She grinned wider then turned her attention towards the door, as her husband came in after washing his hands. "Right on time for cookies!" She declared.

"Mmmm, I thought that's what I smelled. Hi, Greg." Daniel smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of his son's head, as he took a seat beside him. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Because Mom was waiting on the doorstep for me," Greg smirked, holding Danielle's cookie for her as she sucked on the melted chocolate. "What colour are you repainting the front room?" He queried.

"Some maroon colour, your mother wants it to be more Christmassy, since we're putting the tree in there and not the den this year." Daniel grabbed himself a cookie, smiling at his wife as she handed him a glass of milk to go with it.

"I still can't believe it's almost Christmas. This little ones gonna be three." Jean grinned at her granddaughter. "You _are_ still coming over here for her birthday, aren't you?"

"Uh huh, Nick's daughter might be coming too," Greg warned them, "If that's okay with you two? I'm meeting her tomorrow. Nick suggested that we go bowling or something."

"Ooh, that sounds like fun. I get to babysit, don't I?" Jean excitedly grinned towards her granddaughter. "You wouldn't wonna bring a baby on your first day out with the girl, would you?"

"We can't." Daniel tried to subtly remind his wife. "Remember, your... appointment thing."

"What appointment thing?" Jean furrowed her eyebrows together in his direction. "I don't have an appointment thing, Daniel. What are you on about?"

"The... doctor's appointment, Jean." He reminded her, watching her widening her eyes as the light bulb finally clicked on in her head.

"Oh." She nodded, glancing towards Greg a moment, to see the look on his face. "It's nothing serious, honey." She quickly assured him. "It's just a regular check up thing, nothing to worry about. But we can still take Danielle if you want. It's not an all day thing, and it can always be rescheduled."

"You can't cancel your doctor's appointment." Greg refused, "I can take her with me. But what's going on with you?" He asked, feeling like a selfish brat for moaning, after being deprived of his mother's attention for the first time in his life.

"I'm fine, sweetheart." She assured him, not wanting to burst into tears as she explained to her son that she was probably going through menopause. "It's just..." She sighed softly, covering one hand over her quivering lip as she explained, "It's just a routine check up, honey. Nothing's wrong. I'll let you know all about it when you see me next, don't worry. Now have another cookie." She insisted, giving her husband another too. "Now, what did you wonna tell me?" She queried, once he had a cookie in his hands.

Greg looked between his parents, wanting to tell them that he was expecting another two babies, but he didn't want his mother to start worrying about him, when she should be worrying about herself, so he quickly thought of something else to tell her. "Um... well, it doesn't seem that important now . . . but I was just gonna tell yah that Nick's going for joint custody of Libby. So she might be living over ours a couple of days a week."

"That's wonderful, sweetheart. I hope it all works out for that poor girl. It's horrible that she has to live in such a broken home..."

"It's not as bad as most. They should strip that unfit mother of her children. That would be a great first step." Daniel interrupted his wife, grabbing for another cookie for himself. He gulped hard as the accusing glares turned towards him, giving him suspicious looks. "What? I can't speak my mind every once in a while."

"No," Greg shook his head. "That's Mom's thing. You don't speak your mind."

"Yeah, what's the deal?" Jean asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Daniel chortled softly, giving his wife a smile. "I'm sorry; did I steal your thunder? You know me and kids though, Jean. That's why I can't believe it takes good people like us, six months just to meet one of these children in the foster care system, but an unfit mother like her gets to keep her children, no matter what she does to them. It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." Jean pointed out to him. "Sure it has its perks, like our son and our beautiful granddaughter. We've also been blessed with Nicky, a few great neighbours and some higher power looking out for our little boy in that awful lab explosion..."

"Which I am eternally grateful for," Daniel smiled in the direction of his son. "But then you get parents like this Valerie woman who forgets that these beautiful miracles came into this world through her body, and she doesn't know how lucky she is to have them. People take these children they're given for granted every day, and good people like us, who are full of love, aren't given the chance to become great parents to kids like this, who really need someone to love them."

"You tell em, honey." Jean cheered her husband on.

Daniel smiled at her then turned towards his son, "I think Nick should just take this... Valerie to court, take full custody of his daughter and the other children should go to their own fathers, or to someone who will actually love them and treat them right. She's an unfit mother, and she doesn't deserve the right to have such precious gifts, if that's the way she's going to treat them." He concluded, getting his wife all choked up.

"I completely agree." Jean nodded, "But you know they make everybody who wants to adopt wait for a little while, sweetheart. You heard that social worker woman; she said we'd have a child in our home before summer of next year. They just have to check us out properly, before we start meeting children." Jean reminded her husband, holding his hand across the counter. "Now let's get planning this little ones birthday party. Not long now." She excitedly announced, reaching into the back of the folder, she had set on the counter, to show her son the different birthday cakes and party food she could make for the special occasion.

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! Please review!**

**~ Holly**


	15. Chapter 15: Never Thought

**Thanks so much for all of your reviews on the previous chapter. Some of you guessed right to what was going to happen next :D I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen: Never Thought**

"Okay, Doctor Lambert... we're ready." Jean assured her doctor. "Give it to us straight."

"Well, I've got some good news... and some bad news." Her Doctor reported, as he sat down in front of Mr and Mrs Sanders. After years of knowing him, Jean and Daniel Sanders knew that he liked to drag out bad news for as long as possible. It was usually the good news that he liked to just blurt out, so they knew that the bad news must have been very bad to keep him from blurting the good.

Jean and Daniel clutched one another's hands tightly; waiting in suspense from the results of Jean's blood test. They had thought of all of the possibilities on the way over to his office, hoping it was something just as simple as menopause.

"I gotcha blood work and everything back, and the results are pretty clear to what's making you sick." He paused a moment to look his long time patient in the eye, "Jean, Daniel... I just want you to know that there's nothing to worry about." Doctor Lambert softened them up, before he got to the real news. "We ran a panel on the blood test we took the other week, Jean."

"Oh god." Jean gasped, ready to hear the horrible news.

"Hey, it's okay." Daniel soothed her, as she started to blubber again. "It is okay, right?" He asked, turning towards their doctor. "Please just tell us, we've been waiting in suspense for weeks. What's wrong with her?"

The doctor smiled at the two of them, clasping his hands together on the table in front of him. "Nothing." He simply answered. "There's nothing _wrong _with you. Nothing that won't go away in nine months anyway... well, technically speaking, eighteen years. You've been through this before, so there's no point in lying to you." He smiled at them.

Daniel and Jean widened their eyes, both asking the same question, "What?"

"Jean, you're pregnant." Doctor Lambert smiled in her direction.

"Pregnant?" Daniel asked surprised, holding Jean's hand tighter. "But... we can't get pregnant; we've tried hundreds of times."

"Well, you're pregnant kids. I've got the results right here to prove it."

"Are you sure you didn't get them mixed up?" Jean queried.

"These are your results, Jean. I never mix anything up. You kids are having another baby." He smiled wider, opening up the file on his desk. "I've estimated the due date to... the eleventh of June." Jean and Daniel widened their eyes again, as they looked at the doctor in disbelief. "Would you like to come through for an ultrasound?" He indicated towards the door to his office. "We can see how the baby's doing."

"But I'm a grandmother. I can't be a mother again. Not to a baby. I was supposed to be getting a child. A grown child that needs my help. I can't do the whole baby thing again. It's too much hassle, so stressful... and what if we lose it?" Jean climbed to her feet, handing her husband her purse. "Are you sure it's not menopause, you're sure you didn't mistake it for menopause? I don't remember all of this during my last pregnancy. I've been reading up on menopause, and I think I have it."

"No offence, Jean," Doctor Lambert opened the door for her, giving her a soft smile. "But the last time you were pregnant you were in your twenties. By my estimation, you're currently four years away from the big five-O. The pregnancy is bound to be... a little different."

"Are you calling me old?" She hissed at him.

"No, I was in my early thirties when I delivered your, Greg." The doctor reminded her, ushering them through to the ultrasound machine in the other room. "If I remember correctly, your mother was bossing me about when I was delivering that little baby for you kids." He smirked, turning the machine on, while Jean climbed onto the table, looking at the ghostly pale expression on her husband's face. "How is Greg doing now? He went to Stanford, didn't he?"

"Oh yes, he's getting married soon." Jean proudly stated. "And well, you may find this a little odd... but he gave birth to their first child three years ago."

The doctor looked at her surprised a moment then squeezed a small blob of goo onto his patient's stomach. "Wow. Now I feel old." Doctor Lambert smirked. "Whenever I think of you two, I still think that you have that baby boy, Greg that I delivered."

"He'll always be our baby boy." Jean grinned at him then turned her head towards the monitor, wondering if Doctor Lambert really had gone senile in thinking that she could possibly be pregnant, but as she saw the familiar shape of the egg sac on the monitor, she gasped in surprise as there really was a baby growing inside of her.

* * *

After returning home from another double shift at work, Nick searched the house for his lover, finding Danielle asleep on their bed with the video baby monitor on the bedside table. He pressed a kiss to her forehead then turned towards the bathroom, finding Greg in the bathtub. He immediately dropped to his knees beside the tub to press a kiss to his forehead, receiving a wide grin from the younger man as he fluttered his delicate eyelashes open to look at him.

"Hi." Nick smiled back, struggling to keep his eyes on just the younger man's face, as his body was still so beautiful to him. His entire body was covered in bubbles, but Nick could see all the creamy soft skin, cute little clusters of moles and the familiar shape of his manhood through the bubbles. "Are you okay, baby?" He smiled, looking at the Mohawk hairstyle Greg had made out of the bubbles on his head.

"Uh huh." Greg cutely grinned back. "Did you have a good day at work?"

Nick responded with a shrug, "Was okay I guess. You still up for meetin', Libby later?"

"Yep." The younger man nodded, turning to lean against the edge of the bath in front of Nick. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?" The Texan smiled.

"Like that." Greg grinned wider, running his wet fingers through Nick's soft hair. "You wonna join me?" He queried.

"I would... but I gotta sleep." Nick pointed out the time on his watch. "How long has Danielle been out?"

"Since the car ride home. She wore herself out at my Mom's again." Greg raked his fingers through Nick's hair again, looking him in the eye. "Hey, what would you do if your child told you they were gay?"

"Um... I dunno," He shrugged. "I think Danielle's a little young to tell us that though, G."

"Not Danielle." He giggled, shaking his head at him. "Anne's son, Kyle told her that he thinks he likes boys today, and she asked me what to do about it."

"Well, what did you say?"

"I just looked at her with this complete blank expression. She's scared to tell her mother in case she gets all proud of him and makes him even more confused, and she didn't want to ask her brother in case she offended him."

"So she decided to ask you?" Nick grinned at him.

"Don't make fun of me." Greg pouted at him, forming Nick's hair into a cute little Mohawk of his own.

"I wasn't, baby." He shook his head. "It's just funny that she's not worried about offendin' you. I guess... if I had a son who told me he was gay; it would be easier to understand him I guess, because I went through it. I might be a little surprised if Danielle told us she was gay, but I don't think I'd have to _do_... anythin', but support her. I want us to be a completely open and close family, so our kids feel they can talk to us about anythin'. Nothin' like my family where you act and do as the head of the household says, or you get whooped."

"I want that too." Greg assured him, "The open and close thing, not the whooped." He corrected himself. "But I really couldn't think of anything to say to Anne. I mean... Kyle's only thirteen, so I told her not to get too worked up, but I didn't know how to explain it to her, you know?"

Nick nodded to him, gently brushing the bubbles away from the younger man's cheek. "At least Anne's not one of these people who are completely clueless thinkin' it's just some phase. Her mother's in P-FLAG and her brother's gay and married to another man. Kyle couldn't have it better." Nick assured him.

"I know." The younger man smiled, leaning closer to press their lips together.

"Mmmm," Nick laughed, pulling back from Greg, as he realised what the younger man's hands were doing to his shirt. "Why are you unbuttonin' my shirt, G?"

"Because I want you to join me," Greg grinned widely at him, tugging him closer by his shirt collar, to continue unbuttoning it. "Pretty please... five minutes." He sweetly begged him.

Nick reluctantly gave in, sweeping his shirt off his shoulders, once Greg was done. He flipped his own boots off then climbed to his feet to loosen his jeans, shedding the rest of his clothing, before he climbed into the bath tub with Greg.

"Wa-wait, I want top." Greg stopped him from straddling his hips, pushing Nick against the other side of the tub, so he could straddle his hips.

"So demandin'," Nick chuckled, pulling Greg closer against him, so he could feel his warm, soft skin against his own. "You're not goin' through that weird sexual phase of your pregnancy, are yah?"

Greg shook his head, "No, I just have a beautiful boyfriend that I want to smoother with kisses." Greg grinned, leaning forwards to join their lips for a passionate kiss. Nick closed his eyes as Greg's hands explored the curve of every muscle on his body with his smooth wrinkly fingertips, making it feel as though he was getting a relaxing massage after a long days work.

As Greg pulled back from his mouth, Nick's breath hitched in his throat as the younger man's mouth moved to kiss his neck, collarbone and shoulder, before he trailed open mouthed kisses down his firm manly chest, bending to suck his nipple between his teeth.

"I see yah got your libido back then." He smirked.

"MmmHmm," Greg hummed, moving back to his partner's mouth, as he ground his hips against Nick's, sending him deeper into his pool of ecstasy. "I'm sorry for being so annoying lately." He apologised, reaching for the wash cloth off the side of the bath, soaking it up in the warm bubbles beside him. "Thanks for putting up with me..."

"Stop." Nick covered his hand over Greg's mouth, looking him in the eye. "You were right, I should be supportin' you. I know you're excited about this... and I'm sorry for yellin' at you about not bein'. Yes your hormones are a little hard to handle at times, but I should be able to get over it, because I'm supposed to be helpin' you and supportin' you through this whole change again." As Greg tried to speak, Nick clamped his hand tighter, muffling his words, "And I'm not gonna let you make a joke right now, Greg." He warned him, feeling Greg's lips spreading into a smile against his hand. "You wonna shout at me, you can shout at me. You wonna cry or unload on me, you can go right ahead. I'm here to support you, one hundred percent. I wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I wasn't goin' to do that. And I'm sorry about the... only child jokes. I don't know what it's like to be the centre of your Mom's attention all your life then suddenly... not."

"Can I talk now?" Greg asked, moving Nick's hand from his mouth. "I am a spoiled brat." He finally admitted.

"You... what?"

"I am a spoiled little brat, like you're always saying. The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one, right? Well I am the problem. My Mom wasn't answering my calls because she's sick or something. They're going to the doctors today to get a professionals opinion, and I really am a spoilt little brat."

Nick felt his heart slow in his chest, "Baby, you know I didn't mean that. You're not a..."

"I am one." Greg insisted, "But she's really sick or something and I've been acting like this, because she's not giving me enough attention. Best case scenario is menopause... apparently. But she and my Dad were acting... _too_ happy, as if they're trying to mask it somehow. It's probably something really bad, knowing my luck... and I'm a spoilt little brat."

Nick looked at the younger man's face as he lifted the cloth from the water, squeezing it out across his chest. "Baby, you can't worry yourself about this. You know your Mom better than anyone, she's tough."

"But here's me freaking out over an extra baby in my belly, while she could be..." Greg gulped hard, brushing the cloth across Nick's abs. "I know she's gonna be okay though. She doesn't have any... weird extracurricular activities... that I know of. She hasn't been sick in years... forever even. There's nobody from her family with... cancer or serious diseases."

"She's gonna be fine." Nick assured him, watching as Greg smoothed the soft cloth down his body. "We can skip this thing with Libby, she'll understand."

"No, we have to do that. We might be taking Danielle too, but we have to do that." Greg leant forwards, stealing a kiss from Nick's soft lips. "I'm sorry, Nicky. I feel awful... for everything I've said to you. When my parents argue... which is very rare, they always end up agreeing with one another in the end, but we just keep arguing. I don't wonna break up with you, because my hormones are on the fritz."

"Honey, we're not gonna break up because your hormones are a little wild." Nick smiled up at him, holding Greg's hands against his chest. "I think you're amazin', Greg. I'm completely in love with you. Why would I break up with you because of your hormones, that'll settle down in a few months anyway? You have nothing to worry about, you'll see."

"How can you always be so sure about everything?"

"Because... ever since I met you, I've never been more sure of anythin' in my life. It makes everythin' else clearer." He smiled at him then stole a playful kiss. "Now c'mon, your fingers are already gettin' wrinkly," He held them up as proof. "What did you wonna do to me in this bath?"

"Probably not what you were expecting." Greg grinned, dropping the cloth onto Nick's chest as he reached over him for the shampoo bottle.

"Did you cut your nails this time? You scratched my scalp last time."

"Yes, look."

Nick inspected his partner's blunt fingernails for himself, before he let him anywhere near his hair, starting to enjoy the soothing feel of his boyfriend's soft fingers massaging the shampoo through his hair. "Don't get it in my eyes."

"Don't be such a baby." Greg smiled at him, wiping away the bubbles from Nick's forehead. "I get it in Danielle's eyes all the time and she never complains."

"Because you got her the baby stuff. That stuff doesn't sting your eyes, this stuff does. It even has the warnin' for it on the back." Nick defended himself, chuckling softly as Greg playfully tickled his sides. "I'm not a baby; I just don't like it in my eyes."

"Okay, I gotcha message loud and clear, Tex." Greg winked at him then leant forwards, pressing his chest against Nick's as he joined their lips for a kiss. "I wish I could control what's going on in my head, so we can just get along." He suddenly whispered.

"It's just a small bump in the road." Nick assured him, sliding his fingers up Greg's slippery back to hold him closer. "I can put up with it." Touching his lips to Greg's, Nick felt the younger man's body responding to his kiss, as he slowly slid his tongue slid between his lips, caressing the roof of his warm mouth. The younger man's body suddenly jolted with excitement as he bucked his hips, causing Greg's hand to slip from his hair. "Ow... ow, my eye." Nick suddenly winced as the shampoo trickled down the side of his head into his eye.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry." Greg reached for the wash cloth beside him, wiping away the shampoo from the side of Nick's head, before he reached for the tap behind Nick, turning on the cold water to wash out the cloth.

"Shit Greg, that's freakin' cold." The Texan complained as the icy water dribbled down his back.

"I'm sorry." Greg quickly apologised, trying to wash out Nick's throbbing eye. "Is that better?" He asked, anxiously biting his lower lip.

"The back or the eye?" Nick remarked, rubbing his back as he held one hand over his eye. "I'm fine, but I told you not to get it in my eye."

"I'm sorry." Greg innocently smiled, gently rubbing the warm cloth against Nick's back. "It's your fault for kissing me though." He pointed out to him, touching a kiss to the back of his partner's hand that was still covering his sore eye. "Do you want me to wash it off your head, or would you rather do it yourself?"

"You can turn around." Nick gave his eye one last rub then reached for the shampoo bottle, putting some of the soapy liquid into his hands to wash Greg's hair. Greg reluctantly turned in his arms, sitting with his back against him, so Nick could wash his hair, being careful not to get any in his eyes, as he didn't want him to suffer the same treatment he had.

Once Nick was done with his hair, he reached for the wash cloth, gently rubbing it across his partner's soapy body, caressing him in all the right places. Nick carefully washed Greg's smooth stomach, touching his lips to the younger man's neck as he thought of the babies growing inside of him.

"I've got this really big itch that need scratching down here." Greg cheekily grinned as he lifted Nick's hand from his stomach, placing it over his groin, as his lover was paying too much attention to washing his stomach.

"Oh really?" Nick playfully nipped at his earlobe, slowly pumping his hand across Greg's shaft, as he smoothed his other hand across his smooth belly.

"Mmmm, that feels good." Rolling his head back across Nick's shoulder, Greg smiled as he enjoyed the sensation of Nick's lips on his neck and his hands on his body. "You know, if somebody woulda asked me where I saw myself in five or ten years after I moved to Vegas, I would never have imagined it would turn out like this." Greg suddenly blurted. "The weird thing is, when I was a teenager I swore I was never gonna get married or have kids, any of that stuff."

"Is this your subtle way of tryin' to break up with me?" Nick rasped against his ear, making his lover squirm as goosebumps tingled their way down his spine.

"No. This is my way of telling you..." Greg opened his eyes, trying to think what he was going to tell him, but he just draw a blank. "Damn it, I just had it." He grunted.

"Are you tryin' to tell me you never expected your life to end up where it is?" Nick interpreted, moving his hand painfully slow across Greg's erection, watching the younger man's toes curling at the other end of the bath tub as his legs started to spasm. "Not every kid imagines that they'll be married with kids of their own someday, Greg. I used to want to be a fireman, kids and marriage never factored into my fantasy."

"A fireman, really?" A naughty smile spread across Greg's lips as he looked round at him. "Too bad we just missed Halloween; we coulda put that fireman thing to good use."

Nick chuckled softly, nibbling a soft kiss to Greg's neck. "So, you were sayin'... that is if you can remember your trail of thought... maybe I should...?"

"Don't you dare stop." Greg interrupted him, pushing himself into Nick's hand. "I'm going for a record here. I'm going to continue a conversation while holding it, for at least... ten minutes."

"You'll never do that." The older man chortled, knowing his lover all too well.

"Would yah just time me?" Greg smiled as he watched Nick setting his watch then went back to his trail of thought, as Nick started to caress his horny body, trying to get him to lose it. "Okay... well, I kinda wanted you to know... that I am... really... really... really excited about these babies... but that I never thought my life would be like this." Greg paused to moan, arching his back against Nick's chest. "I thought people who got married became... like robots... or something. I thought I'd never be able to love a child... as much as my parents loved me... and I never thought in a million years that I'd fall in love... or be in a bathtub... with a naked man... who also happens to be my fiancé."

"Life never turns out the way you expect it to though," Nick pointed out to him, breathing across his soapy neck, noticing Greg was having trouble breathing, as he sped up his hand movements. "That's the great thing about life, Greg. Everything _comes_," He rasped into Greg's ear. "As a surprise."

Greg whimpered as his body started to quake, feeling as though Nick cheated him out of a long drawn out orgasm.

"Oh, bad luck baby." Nick laughed, sliding his hands across the subtle groves of his body. "That makes it... three minutes and twenty two seconds."

"That's not fair. You were already doing it for like a minute before we even started the timer." Greg immediately complained once he got his breath back, turning his head to pout at his partner. "I shoulda known better then to make an ejaculation bet against a sexy Texan."

"That's right." Nick snickered, returning to washing his lover's body. "Now can we get out of here already? My eyes really stingin'."

"Yes. Shower first though." Greg turned to press a kiss to Nick's lips then climbed out of the bath, dripping water all across the floor towards the shower.

"Why do you always shower after a bath?" Nick queried, washing the soap from his hair in the bath water.

"Because you can never quite get all the bubbles off in the bath," Greg explained to him, stepping under the spray of the shower. He closed his eyes as the spray hit his hair, washing the shampoo from his hair. "And it's more hygienic."

"And I thought I was the germaphobe." Nick smirked, climbing out of the tub to grab himself a towel. He ran it through his hair first then dried his body, tying it at his waist as he grabbed another towel to dry off his partner. As soon as he stepped out the shower, Nick smothered his younger lover with the warm towel, drying off his hair, before he did the rest of his body then tied it at his waist. "Will you come lie down with me while I sleep?" Nick queried, handing Greg his toothbrush. "We're not seein' Libby till later."

"Okay." Greg nodded, grabbing the toothpaste first. "But only if you spoon me, and there's a mini me on my side of the bed, so don't complain about the space."

"As if I would." Nick grinned, grabbing the toothpaste from Greg to brush his own teeth. They leant against the sink together, playfully bumping one another with their elbows every few seconds, before they rinsed then made their way into the bedroom.

Greg slipped into his pyjamas, climbing into the bed first, while Nick slipped into a t-shirt and some boxers, sliding in behind his lover to spoon him tightly. Greg gave him a wide smile, leaning back into his warm embrace as he watched Danielle soundly sleeping on his usual side, catching up on those lost winks from keeping him up all night with her sore gums again.

"Do you realise there will be five of us in this bed by next year?" Greg suddenly whispered to his partner.

"Technically, there _is_ already five of us in this bed. Two are just hidden away in here." Nick whispered, smoothing his hand across Greg's stomach.

"Three sounds like a nice, manageable number, right? I don't know if I can handle looking after five people."

"Sure you can." Nick assured him, resting his head against the side of his own. "That's what a husband is for, to take on half the burden. Don't worry baby, you'll always have me and I know you're gonna do fine... great in fact."

Greg nodded to him, watching Danielle breathing a moment, before another thought popped into his head. "Can we fit five people in our car?" Nick thought about it a moment then gave him a nod. "Do baby seats fit in middle seats? What about if we have Libby round, and we wonna do some big family thing somewhere. Six people can't fit in either of our cars. Especially not if three of them are in big plastic seats and..."

"Hey, don't worry about it. That's what I'm here for." Nick whispered against his neck. "I'll... figure somethin' out. Leave it to me to worry about; you just make sure you stay healthy for these babies."

"I will... sorry." Greg smiled round at him then finally closed his eyes, dozing off to sleep with his lover's arms securely wrapped around his body.

* * *

"Do we have to go bowling? I think the smell is gonna make me throw up." Greg complained as they loaded into the car, after a few long hours of sleep. Nick just responded with a smile, as he knew Greg was just trying to get out of going bowling, as they were going to meet his daughter today. Greg remained silent for the car drive over to Libby's house, feeling nervous about puking on her shoes, more than he was about finally meeting the other child of his fiancé. "This is it?" He asked surprised, as Nick pulled his truck up outside of the run down town house.

"Yep, this is it. You wonna stay in the car while I run in and get her?" He asked, watching Greg giving him a slight nod, before he quickly climbed out the car and made his way up the driveway to collect Libby.

"Hi, Nick." Valerie greeted him in a tight tank top and short skirt, with her hair up in rollers. "She's just gettin' ready up stairs. You wonna come in?" She suggested.

"No, I'll wait here." Nick looked back at Greg in the car, watching the younger man widening his eyes as he finally got a look at Valerie in the flesh, and she fit Nick's description of her, surprisingly well. "So, do you think anymore about me takin' her for Christmas or just a couple of weekends?" He queried, deciding to fill the awkward silence while he waited for Libby.

"Yes and no." Valerie shrugged to him. "Ruby gave the father of her child a little custody agreement once, and he tried to snatch the kid and take him out of the country, because she refused to give him more than a few weekends out of the year. How do I know you're not goin' to do the same?"

"I wouldn't. I live and work here in Vegas. My whole life is here." He pointed out to her. "I just wonna have her over for Christmas and a couple of weekends. I'm not gonna take her anywhere."

"What about child support?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest. "How will we work out how much you owe me after all the years I've taken care of your child?"

Nick looked at her wide eyed, wondering why she would bring that up when he just wanted to spend more time with his daughter. "There's no way I can afford to pay all fifteen years."

"What _can_ you afford?" She queried.

"Mom." Libby moaned at her, overhearing her as she came down the stairs in jeans, a navy blue check sweatshirt and a Rob Zombie album art t-shirt. "You already get support from Garrett and Emmett's father. Why do you need more?" Libby snapped at her, fearing she was going to scare off her father, just like she had done with Cameron's. "Mom please, don't do this now."

"Its okay, Libby." Nick tried to assure her.

"We need money to live, Libby." She reminded her daughter. "We can settle this between us Nick, or we can take this whole process into court. It's just a couple of hundred dollars a month Nicky, I'm not askin' for much. You want me to continue lookin' after her, don't you? Perhaps you would prefer it if I let her starve and kick her out on the street?"

"Do you really want to use your daughter as a bargaining chip to get what you want? What you can't give her, I will. I'd gladly settle this in court, maybe I could even go for full custody." Nick suggested to her, watching the surprise in her eyes.

"No court would take a child from their mother." Valerie argued.

"Only on TV, sweetheart. If the mother is found unfit, like using drugs, frequent drinkin' or an unstable home, the father benefits in the trial." He snidely pointed out to her then stepped aside, letting Libby pass by him. "I'll bring her back at nine."

"Fine." Valerie hissed, slamming the door shut behind the two of them.

"Sorry." Libby apologised to Nick, slowly turning towards Nick's truck, feeling excited for finally being able to meet Greg.

"Don't worry about it." Nick led her towards the back door of his car, holding it open for her like a perfect gentleman. "This is Danielle." He introduced her to the fidgety tot in the back. "And this is Greg." He indicated towards his boyfriend in the front seat.

"Hi, Libby." Greg greeted her.

"Hi." Libby smiled at him, noticing he was much cuter in person. Libby climbed into the back of the car with Danielle, giving the adorable little girl a wide smile as she buckled herself in. Nick closed up the door once she was in then drove the four of them off towards the nearest bowling alley.

As soon as they arrived, Nick rushed around the car to open the door for Greg and Libby then lifted Danielle out of her seat into his arms. Greg and Libby were really starting to hit it off, having talked about movies, music and Marilyn Manson, which Nick was glad for, but he felt a little left out, as he was nothing like the two of them.

"Do we really have to go bowling? I'm not a great bowler." Greg suddenly complained as they entered the bowling alley, popular among the local cops who despised him for turning the married cowboy into his lover. "I mean, the shoes are kinda germy. I don't like it. It smells funny in here."

"Don't be such a baby." Nick chuckled softly, pushing Greg ahead of him to get his shoes first.

"I could pull a muscle. I haven't bowled in ages." Greg complained.

"Relax, Greg. Just getcha shoes." Nick insisted, giving him a gentle push towards the desk again. Greg reluctantly told the man his shoe size, handing over his converse trainers into his care, while he got the smelly bowling shoes. Libby stepped up to the desk next; still feeling excited to be out with her father and his boyfriend, even if Greg was in a moany mood from his hormones.

Once they had their shoes organised, they were directed off to lane eighteen, finding themselves a suitable ball each, while Greg had his very own special made one. He gave Nick a pouting look before he went first, hitting his first strike of the day.

"Wow, you're really good." Libby grinned at him.

"You ever been bowlin' before, Libby?" Nick queried, watching her shaking her head. "It's real easy, just roll the ball and try and knock down as many pins as you can." He explained, sitting Danielle down on his lap. He saw other couples with their young children, but they all looked old enough to actually bowl, unlike Danielle.

"Try that one." Greg pointed one out.

"Okay." Libby smiled at him, getting the ball set up in her hands. Greg showed her the comfiest position to hold it in then took a step back, watching intensely as her ball rolled down the middle of the alley then curved to the left, dropping into the gutter, before it even reached the pins.

Greg had explained the basics of the game to her in the car ride over, so Nick was happy to teach her how to actually bowl. Greg took Danielle off Nick's hands, watching as the older man stepped up beside Libby, once she got her ball back, glad to finally be able to teach her something in his fatherly role, "Okay, you see the lines down the middle." He pointed, "You just wonna use them as a guide and bowl it right down the middle. Try again; keep it in the middle this time."

"Okay." Libby tried again, waiting in suspense as the ball slowly rolled towards the end of the alley, staying in the middle this time, before it reached the pins, knocking all but three of them down. "Wow. I didn't think I could do that." She giggled, high fiving Greg beside her.

Greg gave her a wide smile then stepped back so Nick could bowl, planning his move to beat him when his turn came around again. But of course Nick had to go for the cute approach, and let Danielle take his second turn, letting her roll it down the ramp. Her ball went painfully slow down the alley, but ended up knocking over half the pins, making a gapy toothed smile spread across her lips.

They played for another two hours, teaching Libby the best techniques to get strikes, letting Danielle take a few turns to even out their scores, but Greg still managed to win. Just as Nick had suspected, Libby and Greg were getting along great. There wasn't any tension between them, and Libby didn't let Greg's occasional swing of moods get in the way of getting to know him, as she had been round her mother for lots of her pregnancies, and she was much worse.

Greg seemed to have forgotten about the stresses of having twins for a moment and worrying about his mother, while Libby seemed to be having the time of her life with her father's boyfriend and her new baby sister. Nick took them all out for pizza afterwards, glad he had cheered both Libby and Greg up; as he hated to see people he loved upset.

It was an almost perfect day out together. Nick kept thinking it would have been better if he didn't have to return Libby home to her mother, not getting to see her again until the next weekend.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the out come of that chapter. It'll be too easy and boring if I just make Libby go live with Nick/Greg without any conflict, so I hope you guys who are wanting Libby to live with them understand why I haven't just moved her in with them straight away.**

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing this for me!**

**Thanks so much for reading, please Review!**

**~ Holly**


	16. Chapter 16: Haunting Past

**Thanks again to my beta Alisa! I hope you're all ready for some angst in this extra long chapter! Have a great weekend!**

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Haunting Past**

"Dada!" The tearful voice echoed through the hall again. Greg fluttered his eyes open at the sound of it, wondering if he was still dreaming. He listened to the soft hum of the alarm clock beside the bed, hearing the softest whimpers, followed by the snivelling voice of his child, "Dada!"

Finally sweeping back the covers of his bed, Greg sleepily climbed out of bed, rubbing his eyes open as he made his way off down the hall to Danielle's room, finding her stood, clutching the side of her crib with tears running down her cheeks.

Hooking his hands beneath her arms, Greg lifted her free from the crib, holding her securely against his chest, as he whispered, "Ooh, what's the matter, baby?"

Danielle rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the comforting embrace of her father's strong arms. Touching tender kisses to his daughter's forehead, Greg gently smoothed his hand up and down the back of her Minnie Mouse pyjamas, listening to the choppy breaths hitching from her throat.

"Did you have a bad dream?" He asked her in a soft murmur, brushing aside her increasingly long hair from her face, to see her tearful, puffy eyes. Walking her over to the changing table, Greg checked to see if her diaper was clean then hooked his arm beneath her legs, holding her a little higher to wipe the tears from her cheeks with one of the baby wipes. "Did you wonna sleep with me tonight? Hmm, you wonna sleep with me?" He whispered, watching her big brown eyes studying his face, before she gave him the slightest nod. "Okay, don't tell yah Daddy, Nicky." He smiled at her, grabbing the blanket from her crib.

He presumed that she must have had a nightmare or just missed him, so he carried her back through to his bedroom, adjusting his pillows against the headboard, before he sat down with her in his arms. Wrapping the baby blanket around her, Greg noticed his t-shirt was stained with Danielle's tears. He felt a little guilty for sleeping through her earlier cries, feeling as though he had failed her as a parent or something.

Adjusting Danielle to a comfier position against his chest, Greg touched his lips to the top of her head, cradling his daughter in his arms, as she slowly began to doze off to sleep again in the comfort of her father's warm embrace.

* * *

Sitting up straight in her bed, Libby listened to the loud quarrelling voices coming from downstairs, abruptly cut off by a loud slam of the front door. She looked towards her bedroom door as she heard someone running up the stairs, clutching her covers tightly as they immediately entered her room. "Libby, I'm off to work. No school today, right?" Her mother appeared in the gap of the door, settling Libby's nerves.

"Unless they made school on a Saturday, and on Christmas holidays. No." Libby responded, smiling as her mother rolled her eyes at her.

"Okay, look after your brothers. Steve's still asleep in the next room..."

"Whoa . . . who's, Steve?" She cut her off.

"Guy from last night." Valerie reminded her daughter, touching up her lipstick in her daughter's mirror. "There should be food in the fridge, but if there's not, order a pizza." She pulled some money from her back pocket, handing her daughter a few bills. "Steve should be goin' soon, so you won't have to worry about him."

"What about, Ruby?" Libby queried.

"Gone, she took Philip and some of her things last night, and she's movin' back to her brother's house. Knowin' him, he'll kick her out within a week, but she's not comin' back here. Good ridden's to her I say." Valerie pecked a kiss to her daughter head, rubbing the lipstick off with her thumb. "Love yah, kiddo. I'll call you later. And don't leave the house!" She quickly warned her.

"Okay." Libby waved after her, wishing her mother could be that nice and sober all the time, as she was _almost_ a decent person. She said _almost,_ as she had still left her four children alone in the house with a strange man that she slept with last night, and only knew his first name, despite spending hours alone with him in her bedroom.

At least she remembered this one's name while she was sober, but Libby still didn't know if he was some kind of axe murderer.

* * *

Returning home from his extra long shift, Nick rubbed the sleep from his eyes, making his way into his pancake smelling house. "Honey, I'm home." He called through the house, beaming a wide smile towards his lover, as he suddenly made his way towards him, for his usual hug. He immediately wrapped his arms around his younger lover, receiving a passionate kiss from his lips. "Mmm, I missed you." He purred, tasting his younger lover's minty lips.

"Don't forget I'm here, big guy." Warrick suddenly appeared behind him, slapping his hand on Nick's back. "Hi, Greg." He casually greeted him, watching the two of them separating from their lip lock that he thought he would have been used to by now, but it still made him uncomfortable.

"Hi, Warrick. You wouldn't mind if I quickly stole Nick for a quick minute, would yah?" Greg cheekily grinned towards Warrick, as he playfully tugged on Nick's belt.

"Yes, I'd mind." Warrick quickly warned him.

"So would I." Nick added, prying Greg's hand from his belt. "We got the tree; did you get everythin' set up?"

Greg gave him a quick nod, smiling as he watched Warrick crouching down to greet Danielle. She showed her uncle the stuffed kitten from her arms, before she informed him that she wasn't wearing a diaper, because she can use the potty now. Greg giggled softly as she had been so proud of that little fact for the past two days, and was going around telling everyone her greatest new achievement.

"Okay Warrick, yah ready?" Nick asked him.

"Yeah, man." Warrick handed Danielle over to Greg then followed Nick back out to the car, helping him get the tree down to carry into the house. Even though Danielle had seen a Christmas tree before, she watched the tree going up in the front room with a mesmerised look on her face, probably wondering why they were putting a big tree in the front room.

"Can I help?" Greg asked.

"No, you can't lift anythin'." Nick shook his head, making sure Greg was out of the way, before he dropped the base of the tree into place, helping Warrick to straighten it up.

Greg was a little annoyed that he was shunned away from any kind of manly duty again, knowing full well that Nick was only doing it because he was pregnant, but it was like he was saying he was less of a man than him or Warrick.

As he watched '_the men'_ rearranging the tree in the front room, Greg tilted his head to the side, noticing the top half appeared to be bent, possibly even broken. He looked at Danielle in his arms, smiling as she had tilted her head to the side too, copying her father's actions. "Don't say anythin'." Nick warned Greg, spotting the look in his eyes. "Warrick dropped it as we were loadin' it onto the truck. It'll straighten out."

"How? It's dead." Greg pointed out to him, giving him a wide smile. "You want some duct tape?"

"Ha ha." Nick scowled at him, picking up some of the bristles from the carpet.

"Duct tape?" Warrick queried, looking between the two of them confused.

"Inside joke." Nick stated, remembering the little shower curtain incident and the cupboard door knob in the kitchen.

"It's not really a joke, its Nick being too lazy to fix anything. He uses duct tape on everything." Greg ratted out his fiancé, giving him a wide grin.

"You're home most of the day, you could fix em." Nick suggested, throwing the stray bristles from the tree into the bin. "You're always complainin' that I never let you do anythin', and you're home all day, so you _could_ fix them. Not everythin's up to me." He defended himself, giving him a wide smile. "That's the beauty of datin' a man. I only have to be the fix it man when my boyfriend's PMS-in'." Nick laughed with his buddy.

Warrick chortled softly, noticing the irritation on Greg's face from Nick's cruel joke.

"Yeah, but I cook your meals and clean your clothes, so you could pull a little of your parenting role weight in this house." Greg stated, adjusting Danielle against his side. "I'm not saying you have to do _everything_. I'm not some useless little wife in this relationship, but we both know I'm rubbish with the DIY stuff."

"Really you two are kinda in the natural parenting roles though." Warrick pointed out to them, anxiously biting his lower lip, as the two men looked over at him with their eyebrows raised. "I just mean because... you know, Greg carries the babies and stays at home with the kids, while Nick goes to work and... forget I said anything." He muttered, wishing he had never opened his mouth.

"You think I'm the wife in this relationship?" Greg asked, realising that Nick probably thought that too, from the way he was treating him. "You think that too? Is that why you never let me do anything?"

"No, it's because you're pregnant." Nick reminded him, scowling at Warrick as he was already having enough problems lately without him adding to the mix. "I don't treat you like my wife. You're home all day because that was your choice and I supported you for it. I was just jokin' about the PMS-in' thing. I didn't want you to lift the tree because you're supposed to be restin'."

"You never really let me lift groceries, even when I'm not pregnant. You fixed this house up with Warrick, and you didn't let me help you with any of the flat pack furniture, you had to do it all yourself because you're the big man in this relationship."

"Oh my god, I'm not havin' this conversation with you. It's completely retarded. You know that I don't think of you like that, so don't be so stupid and listen to what other people say about it. Since when do we give a shit what other people think of us anyway? The reason I've been more protective is because you're fuckin' pregnant Greg, excuse me for tryin' to protect you and our babies."

"Don't swear in front of Danielle." Greg rolled his eyes at him then turned back for the kitchen, leaving Nick alone with Warrick in the front room.

"Sorry, man." Warrick spoke softly, taking a step back from the tree.

"It's okay. It's his mother's fault... partly his though. She doesn't know he's pregnant yet, and I've been tip toein' around him because of his hormones and she brought up the fact that I'm treatin' him like a wife, and it's been buggin' him ever since." Nick groaned, adjusting the tree so the break didn't look so bad. "I'm so sick of all these fuckin' secrets. I've been a secret keeper my whole life, now I have to do it again because Greg's bloody mother is goin' through menopause and she's just as emotional as him, and he doesn't want to rub it in her face that he can get pregnant. I thought Greg's family were better than mine, but they have their flaws just like any other."

"So... you're pissed at each other over..."

"Everythin'!" Nick answered, removing his jacket. Warrick watched his buddy retrieving a box of Christmas decorations from behind the sofa, setting it down beside the tree. "Thanks for helpin' me bring it here, Warrick."

"Sure. Hey, if you need to talk man, I'm still here for you." Warrick glanced up towards the door as he heard Greg curse at the top of his lungs, followed by a loud bang from the saucepan he had just dropped.

"Greg, you okay?" Nick shouted after him, but the younger man seemed to be ignoring him.

"We could go out for beers?" Warrick suggested.

"Thanks, but no thanks. It's not so much me and Greg anyway, it's everythin' around us. Like Greg's mother, Valerie and this whole situation with Libby. Valerie said if I wanted Libby for Christmas, I'd have to go over there and spend it with her. But I can't because I wonna be here with Greg and Danielle then Libby feels left out, and I'm the bad father to everyone again. Then Greg's mother is completely ignorin' him for like... the first time in his whole life, makin' him a nightmare. That plus the hormones... it just gets us fightin' more than usual. But really, we're fine." Nick assured him, before he took his coat out into the hall to hang by the door. "Hey babe, you okay?" Nick queried, stepping into the kitchen to check on Greg.

Greg shook his head, holding his hand beneath the running water in the sink, "No, I burned my wrist."

Nick stepped up beside him by the sink, checking on his hand beneath the cold tap. "You want some ice, hun?" He suggested, walking around him to grab the ice without waiting for an answer.

Warrick watched them in amazement, as they had just been at one another's throats a few seconds ago, now they were acting completely natural and normal with one another again, as though they both had split personalities or something. He looked towards Danielle across the room, watching her crashing a toy dumper truck in a headless Barbie doll, making explosion sound effects from her mouth, before she picked up her toy kitten, sitting him in the back of the truck as she pushed it along.

"What?" Nick queried, watching his friend's eyes watching his daughter.

"Nothing." Warrick shook his head, watching Nick delicately holding ice to his lover's wrist. "You know I read this article the other day," He remembered, stepping into the kitchen with Nick and Greg. "These researchers said that children with same sex parents tend to depart from their traditional gender roles. They also said that both parents from a same sex couple are more involved in their child's life and activities, while heterosexual fathers usually leave it all up to the mothers. It said that boys raised by lesbians tend to be less aggressive and more neutering then boys raised by heterosexual parents and girls raised by lesbians, apparently aspire to be feminists, while gay men's kids tend to be more butch and sporty."

"Researchers have been pullin' that crap for years. Like they say that we apparently make people want to become gay, by openly bein' gay, and people think because we're not attracted to the opposite sex, we're more likely to molest a child and give our own children low self esteem." Nick started to rant; annoyed that Warrick would even bring that up. "There's nothin' wrong with a child wantin' to play with opposite gender associated toys. My big brother used to push around a buggy with a teddy bear in it, while some of my sisters used to play sports and things. Those researchers also came up with all that BS, that same sex parents raise kids attracted to same sexes. I don't know a single gay guy or a lesbian with gay parents. They all have heterosexual parents like me and Greg, so I don't know where they got their crap facts from. And there's nothin' wrong with Danielle if that's what you're suggestin'." He scowled over at him.

"No." Warrick shook his head, realising that both Nick and Greg were a little uptight lately. "Why's the doll got no head?" He inquired.

"Anne's five year old son, Joey, bit the head off that Barbie." Greg pointed out to him. "Parenting books actually encourage parents to let their child play with whatever they want, rather than the typical gender role toys. Danielle has her tea party with teddies and dolls, but she likes to destroy Lego houses and that dump truck has become her new favourite toy lately."

"Okay. Well I'm gonna go." He suggested, before he said anything else wrong.

"Doncha wonna stay for breakfast, Warrick?" Greg queried, pointing to the pile of pancakes and waffles set on the side that he had just made.

"Nah, I'm fine, thanks." He shook his head then turned to Nick beside him. "I gotta get home to sleep. I'll pick you up tomorrow for work, bro."

"Okay." Nick smiled after him, lifting Greg's wrist to press a kiss to it. "That feel better, baby?"

"Uh huh." Greg nodded, watching Warrick awkwardly closing the front door on his way out. "What's up with him?"

"No idea." Nick shrugged, dropping the ice into the sink. "You know he was a little funny around us when you were pregnant with Danielle, maybe that's just it?" Greg nodded to him then grabbed Nick a plate, so he could select what he wanted from the counter. "Your Mom will be over in an hour, right? I'll have to decorate that tree after breakfast. I don't want her to moan that we haven't gotten the tree decorated yet."

"Let her moan, I'm telling her about the twins today." Greg poured out two glasses of freshly squeezed juice, setting one down in front of Nick, before he grabbed himself a plate to grab his own breakfast. "That's okay, right?"

"Yeah." Nick nodded, leaning across the counter to press a kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "Hey, I'm sorry about the whole... bigger man thing. I didn't mean to shout at you like that, especially in front of Warrick."

"Bad case?" Greg presumed, taking a seat opposite Nick.

"Yeah, but that doesn't give me an excuse, so you can still be mad at me if you want." Nick smiled at him, grabbing the maple syrup to coat his pancakes. "Your Mom's not stayin' over too long, right? I'm exhausted. For the last three nights we've been workin' that rape case. We finally got the S O B, but his victim's too scared to testify, which makes our three days of work completely useless and pointless."

"Can't you get her to write a testimonial or something? Isn't that what they usually do in these cases?"

"Usually," Nick nodded, "But she's a he, and he refuses to even admit it. We couldn't collect trace from him, because he refused, so we've been workin' the scene and everythin'. This guy found out that the vic slept with his boyfriend, so he decided to pay him back by humiliatin' him. He beat him to a bloody pulp, raped him and now he's probably gonna walk because he won't testify."

"You can't beat yourself up over it Nicky, you did everything you could."

"I just feel so... helpless." Nick stopped himself from swearing, as Danielle was just a few feet away from him. "I feel like I can't protect you and these babies. I can't protect Libby either, no matter what I do there's always gonna be this road block, and now I can't even do my job right. If that happened to you, wouldn't you wonna see the man who did that to you behind bars?" He queried.

"You're asking the wrong person." Greg spoke softly, watching the realisation washing over Nick's face, as he remembered what happened to him. "You're hardly one to talk either, Nicky. Remember a certain babysitter?"

"That's not the same, I was a kid. If someone had asked me... I probably woulda told em. Besides, I didn't exactly have any proof. This guy does, he has a freakin' truck load of proof, and still he won't do it. Given the choice again, I woulda ratted her out. If I ever met the guy who hurt you, I'd make him pay too."

"Do you think that they live with what they do to people every day?" Greg suddenly queried, resting on his elbow as he looked across the counter at Nick. The older man gave him a quizzical look, wondering what he was on about. "I don't think about it as much as I used to, but do you think that they ever have like... remorse or something over what they did?"

"Doubt it." Nick shook his head. "You'd have to be a cold heartless bastard to do somethin' like that. And cold heartless bastards don't have souls, so they can't feel remorse. They just make someone their victim, then move onto the next. There's no tellin' how many kids that bitch molested, or how many other guys that..."

"Don't say his name." Greg warned him, feeling sick to his stomach, just for talking about him. "You wonna go to bed while my Mom's here? That way you won't have to hear her moan about the Christmas tree."

"No, otherwise she'll complain the next time I see her that I'm always sleepin'." Nick pointed out to him, grabbing himself another waffle. "I'll go to sleep when she's gone." Looking up towards the door as they heard a knock, both men gulped their breakfast down hard, before they made a move towards the door.

"Hello, darlings!" Jean cheerily greeted them, immediately pulling each of them in for a bone crushing hug. "Oh, were you still having breakfast? It's almost..."

"Nick just got home from work." Greg interrupted her, before she pointed out how late it was to them. He gave her a smile as he ushered her into the house, watching her rushing straight towards Danielle, to greet her with a hug. "Notice anything different about her?" Greg queried, as Nick headed back to the kitchen to clean up.

"She's not wearing a diaper." Jean noticed the lack of the puffy diaper beneath her clothes.

"She still wears them at night though." Nick pointed out to her, before she started worrying about that. "She's just got the hang of the potty thing, so we decided to take her out of the diapers durin' the day. At least while she's at home."

"That's good. Aren't you a good girl?" She proudly smiled at her grandchild, pecking a kiss to her forehead. "So, what did you wonna tell me, sweetheart?" She queried, looking between the two of them, as she thought of her own little piece of news that she would eventually have to tell them.

"You wonna sit in the front room?" Greg suggested, taking Danielle off her hands. Jean anxiously followed after her son, watching Nick returning to the kitchen to clean up, as he hated to leave a mess like that out on the counter.

"You still haven't decorated your tree." Jean immediately noticed.

"Yeah, we just got the tree. Mom, I'm pregnant." Greg decided to blurt it, watching the surprised look spreading across her features. "Twins." He simply stated as his mother rushed towards him. He held up the ultrasound picture the doctor had given him, watching his mother's face lighting up, even though there wasn't much to see.

"Why aren't you happy, baby?" She asked, dropping onto the sofa beside him. "Are you still really tired, honey? That's probably what's been causing this you know, two babies growing in your belly." She smiled as she looked at the picture in her hands again.

"That's what the doctor said too. The weird thing is that I'm not that hungry. You'd think with more babies in there, I'd be able to eat more, but I can barely eat anything."

"You can't eat anything?" Jean suddenly panicked. "Nicky! Have you not been feeding this boy?"

"Yes, I have." He defended himself, appearing at the doorway to talk to her. "Whatever I feed him he pukes it up five minutes later, then he tells me he's not hungry anymore."

Greg smiled up at him as he placed his squirming child on the floor, letting her go off and play again. "I just don't feel that hungry. That's what we wanted to tell you anyway. I'm only a couple of weeks, but we wanted to tell you."

"Oh," Jean gave him a smile as she examined the ultrasound picture again. "Well, your father and I would like to invite the both of you round for dinner later, and..." She pulled something from her purse, handing it over to Greg. "I've got my first gallery showing this evening. Just a few collections of my work, and I'd love for the three of you to come. Your father and I have something to tell you after, that's why we'd like you to come round for dinner too."

"Can't you just tell us now?" Greg moaned.

"No, we'll tell you later at dinner. And I'll see you at my first art gallery show, right? You will come, right?" She queried, looking between the two of them.

"Sure." Nick nodded, giving Greg a smile, as he would tolerate her for another evening for him. "We'd love to come, Jean."

Jean stayed for another few hours, helping Nick and Greg to decorate the tree and play with her granddaughter, before she returned home to her husband to begin preparing dinner. Nick got the Christmas lights set up around the front room and on the tree, before he made his way off to the bedroom, catching up on his lost few hours of sleep, before he would have to tolerate his in laws for another dinner.

* * *

Ushering her younger brothers off into the kitchen with the fresh pizza in her hands, Libby shivered as she spotted a man stood in the remains of their garden, holding a cell phone to his ear as he smoked a cigarette. She assumed that he must have been her mother's latest lay, mostly from the stench of asshole that wafted around him. She had heard someone moving around the house in the morning, but she didn't think that he would still be here when it was now closer to noon.

"I wonna sit there." Emmett complained to his older brother, giving out a babyish whimper, as he didn't get his own way. "Libby, he took my seat."

"Just sit anywhere." Libby groaned, grabbing four plates the dishwasher, checking they were clean before she took them over to the table, setting them down around the table. She picked up a piece of pizza for three year old Cameron, cutting his piece into small bite size pieces, while the older two could select their own piece to eat.

Looking up towards the door as the man came back in, Libby frowned at him as he tossed his cigarette out the door then scratched his balls through his shorts as he turned to look at them. "Oh, you must be... Lizzy."

"Libby." She corrected him, taking a seat beside Cameron.

"Right," He nodded, looking around the table at the three young boys. "Did your mother say when she'd be back, Libby?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "Garrett, stay sat at the table." She scolded her brother, handing him a napkin, as he already had pizza sauce down his chin. She anxiously looked up towards her mother's new friend, Steve, wishing he would just leave like the rest of them, as he was looking at her in a way that made her very uncomfortable.

Instead, Steve decided to make himself a coffee and grab a piece of pizza for himself, sticking around as if he was one of the family, when really he was an unwanted guest.

Once they finished their lunch, Libby sat the boys in front of the television in the front room, while she cleared away the mess in the kitchen, feeling even more uncomfortable, as Steve watched her like a hawk from across the room.

"Don't you hafta get back to your wife and kids?" Libby queried, drying off her hands after washing up.

He shook his head. "I'm divorced, babe." He smiled, pursing a cigarette between his lips, as he searched his pockets for a lighter or some matches. Libby grabbed her mother's lighter off the top of the fridge, handing it over to him, hoping he would leave after he had another cigarette. "How old are you?" Steve queried, running his eyes across the long hair draped around her shoulders.

"Fifteen." Libby answered, shoving the dogs out the back door, as they were hovering around her. "Make sure you shut the door on your way out." She reminded him, grabbing herself a soda from the fridge.

"So, this isn't the first time your mother's invited... around a guest?" He asked, still running his hungry eyes across her as if she was his prey.

"Try hundredth. She breathes the word slut over every guy she meets. She's not even that attractive, she's just... easy."

Suddenly launching himself across the tiled kitchen floor, Steve roughly shoved Libby backwards into the counter, holding her chin in his hand, as he stared into her eyes through the black hollow holes in his head. "You should show some respect, she's your mother, kid."

"Let go of me." Libby's voice came out more of a whimper then anger like she intended. Her deep brown eyes glazed over with emotion, as Steve showed no sign of backing off, he just pressed his body closer to her own, crushing her even more against the counter.

"Libby!" Emmett suddenly called from the other room; causing Steve to back off as the small boy came hurrying into the kitchen with them. "Garrett won't share the remote."

"Okay." Libby gulped hard, nervously glancing towards Steve, before she followed her brother into the front room, feeling her breathing hitching in her throat, as she could still feel Steve's eyes watching her.

Libby stayed in the front room with her brothers until her mother finally returned home, kicking Steve out for herself, as she didn't like her lays to hang around after she had already had them. Valerie got the boys settled with a movie and TV dinners then hurried up the stairs to her daughter's room, wanting to find out why she had been so quiet since she got back.

"Sweetheart, is there anythin' botherin' you?" She queried, taking a seat on the bed, where her daughter was sat with headphones over her ears. "Honey, is there somethin' wrong? C'mon, you can tell me... what is it? Is it your father?"

"No, it's you." Libby snapped at her, removing her headphones from her head. "How stupid can you be? You left us home alone with that... creep. Don't you ever think about anyone but yourself?"

"Well he didn't do anythin'... did he?" Valerie looked at her daughter surprised. "You didn't do anythin' with him, did you?"

"God, no." Libby hissed at her. "I'm not a slut."

"You're sayin' I am?"

"If you can't figure that one out, you must be seriously stupid." Libby scowled at her, pulling her knees close to her chest. "Can I stay with Nick for the holidays?"

"No, he has a life too. He doesn't want some depressed teenager in his house."

"He said I can stay over whenever I like." Libby corrected her, moving back as her mother tried to touch her. "I can always tell him what kinda creep you left the four of us alone with today."

"I didn't know he was gonna stay. He said he just hung out in the kitchen waitin' for me to get back, so don't get so dramatic. As if he would want to sleep with trash like you, especially when he just had me." Valerie shouted.

Libby could smell the alcohol on her mother's breath, making her even more nervous to be around her, as she always got violent when she was drunk.

"You don't even wear makeup for god's sake; look at the state of you. You look like a boy with long hair. People are gonna start to think you're a dyke if you keep dressin' like this."

"You _are_ a dyke!" Libby angrily pushed her mother away from her, climbing off her bed as she suddenly felt the urge to cry. "Not every girl has to dress like you. And you're my mother; you're supposed to be the one person in the world that loves me no matter what."

"Well I don't, you're nothing but a parasite." Her mother yelled, following her daughter to the top of the stairs, as she tried to get away from her. "Maybe in the perfect world mother's love their trampy, dyke daughter's, but I don't. You ruined my life the second you were created. You've never shown me an ounce of respect, so why should I give it to you in return?"

"Why should I show respect to the woman that allowed her child to be molested?"

"Oh, don't bring that up again." Valerie groaned in annoyance, blocking her daughter's path to the stairs. "Cameron's father never touched you. He told me so himself. You're just a filthy little girl for sayin' that he would even think about doing that."

"Why would I lie?" Libby screamed through her tears. "Eleven year olds don't think about stuff like that. You're just too much of a fucking whore to see what you're doing to your children!"

Clenching her fist at her side, Valerie swung it towards her daughter, hitting her right beside her left eye. "You'd just love to get me locked away because of one of your sick little stories, wouldn't you? Well it's not goin' to work. You should be thankful that I didn't abort you when I had the chance." Valerie angrily spat at her then stormed off down the stairs, grabbing her cigarettes from her jacket to take into the kitchen.

Libby held the side of her face as she leant back against the wall, wishing her mother had aborted her, so this life wouldn't have happened to her. "I'm not staying here!" She screamed down the stairs after her mother. "And you can't make me!"

* * *

Staring wide eyed at the painting in front of him, Greg dropped his jaw, unable to believe his mother would actually paint something like that. Taking a closer look, he noticed that the men in the image both resembled his father instead of him, like he had originally thought, but the one on top had broader shoulders and larger biceps, making him think otherwise.

Greg tilted his head to the side as he took a closer look, wondering how his mother managed to sneak a painting of two naked men into her art show. The paintings at the front of the gallery were of random people he had never seen before. There was one halfway through of a baby, very similar to Danielle, and Jean had cleverly named it 'Bundle of Joy.'

"Bring back memories?" A voice suddenly whispered against his ear. Greg whirled around confused, dropping his jaw, as he saw the familiar face behind him. "Hi Greg, nice to see you too." The older man smirked; looking even older and more handsome than he did the last time Greg saw him. "I heard your Mom was opening up a show here, so I came to check it out." The man suddenly ushered a woman over to him, introducing her to the frozen man in front of him. "Greg, this is my wife Chelsea. Chels, this is Greg, the old roommate I told you about."

"Oh, hello." Chelsea flashed her pearly whites, as she shook the stunned man's hand in front of her. "I've heard so much about you, Greg. I should be thanking you really. Davi said if it wasn't for you, he would have never gone to New York and met me."

"Ha... imagine that." Greg muttered, as he cast his eyes towards Davian, wondering if he had gone completely senile in forgetting what he had done to him right before he left.

"Ab's, stop that." Chelsea suddenly scolded a small infant running around her feet.

Greg looked down at the small tot, noticing the familiar look in her eyes. They were an exact match to Davian's. Greg felt his lower lip tremble as the man who terrorised him, now had a wife and child of his own. Besides the cold dark eyes that the little girl had, she was actually a pretty adorable child. She had curly brown hair just like her mother and she was dressed in a pretty daffodil yellow dress.

"Greg, this is our little girl, Abigail. She's three, turning on four in two months." Chelsea introduced her, as she lifted the little girl into her arms. "We're here in Vegas on vacation for the Christmas holidays. We'll have to get together for a little thank you reunion dinner or something, while we're in town. You know Davian; he always shies away from any kind of family event." She giggled, talking to Greg as if she had known him for years. "Well I'll leave you guys to talk." She smiled at them both, before she pecked a kiss to her husband's cheek and made her way off into the crowd to try and entertain her bored toddler.

Davian watched her go then turned his attention back towards Greg, giving him a wide smile. "Wow Greg, you really look, good... you know considering. I heard about that lab explosion on the news. You always said you wanted to work in a lab, I see you finally made it. I'm really sorry to hear about what happened..."

"Shut up." Greg cut him off, raising his hands to silence him. "You don't get to feel sorry for me."

"Oh c'mon Greg, the past is behind us." The older man complained. "You can't _still_ be holding grudges against me for that little misunderstanding. It was one mistake. I told you before that my Dad always used to beat us kids. I inherited his anger..."

"So I deserved it? May I remind you that you killed my baby!" Greg folded his arms across his chest; angrily scowling at the man of his nightmares, who was acting as though the torture he inflicted on him was nothing. "Get out of here, right now. You have no right to be here."

"Greg." As he went to reach out for the younger man, Greg instantly jumped back, feeling his heart painfully pounding inside of his chest, as if it was going to burst. "I've been in therapy for years. I'm not the same guy I used to be." Davian tried to explain.

"I don't care if you've found god or turned over a new leaf, just get out of here!" Greg practically shouted at him, fearing the fact that he was in the same room as him, his fiancé and his own child.

Davian looked around at the other startled guests by Greg's outburst then rolled his eyes at Greg. "You're still such a drama queen, Greg. I came here to apologise for everything I put you through, and this is the way you treat me?"

"Well duh!" Greg screamed at him, feeling his hands shaking at his sides, and his throat becoming oddly tighter. "You beat me to a bloody pulp and killed my baby! I hate you!"

"Well I forgive you for that." He remained completely calm. "I don't hate you, Greg. It was never you that I hated, it was me. And that's why I lashed out." He spoke softly then slowly turned away. "It's really good to see you again, Greg. I'll be seeing yah." He winked at him, not going unnoticed by Greg's fiancé.

Nick watched the suspicious looking man walk away with a woman and child in tow then turned his head back towards Greg, seeing the pale look of horror in his eyes. "Hey, Daniel... can you hold her a sec?" Nick handed his daughter over to Daniel then pushed his way through the crowd towards Greg, gently placing his hand on his shoulder. "Greg, baby... what's wrong?" He whispered.

"Nothing." Greg sniffled, trying to hide the look on his face, but he wasn't fooling Nick. "Can we go? Just for a minute... I need... some air." He tugged at the collar of his t-shirt, feeling as though he was being suffocated.

"Yeah, yeah." Nick carefully put his arm around him, leading him off towards the exit. He led him halfway down the street, leaning against the railing surrounding the parking lot with him, feeling the cold wind on their faces. "Deep breaths, baby." He advised, noticing Greg was beginning to hyperventilate with his short choppy breaths. "Don't stretch your t-shirt."

"I can't breathe." Nick felt completely helpless, watching his lover tugging at the collar of his t-shirt, while he wheezed deep breaths from his throat. "Can you hold me?"

"Yeah. Baby, what's wrong?" Nick whispered, putting both arms around him. "Baby, talk to me. You're scarin' me. Do you need me to...?"

"Just stay with me."

Nick tried remain calm, holding his lover in his arms. He knew that when someone was having a panic attack, you were the one who was supposed to remain calm to help them, but he had never seen Greg freaking out so much.

After a few more minutes, Greg breathing began to slow, and his hands stopped frantically pulling at the stretched collar of his t-shirt. Gravitating closer towards his fiancé, Greg buried his face in his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around him. "He doesn't even... remember." He whimpered through his tears. "And they want to get together for a dinner?"

"Who, baby? Who doesn't remember?" Nick queried, as he looked into his lover's bloodshot eyes.

"She actually thanked me for what I did to make him leave." Greg moved his hands away from Nick's waist to hold his own stomach as he felt a tight pain, as though he was going to throw up. "I set him on the path for the perfect wife and child, and she thanked me for what I did. You were right about the no soul thing."

"I was?" Nick looked at him confused. "Baby, you're not makin' any sense."

"I wonna go home." Leaning forwards, Greg rested his head against Nick's shoulder, closing his eyes as his partner securely wrapped his arms around him again. "Wait, where's, Danielle?" He suddenly feared, realising she wasn't in Nick's arms.

"She's with your Dad, hun. She's fine. You want me to go and find your Mom and tell her we're goin' home?"

"No. We have to go to that dinner thing." Greg reminded him, wiping his hands across his cheeks, as he was starting to soak Nick's shirt with his tears. "I'm so pathetic. Less than five minutes with him and he makes me out to be his victim again."

"Huh?" Nick looked down at him even more confused, holding his lover's shivering form tighter against him. "Who's he, Greg? You're not makin' a lot of sense."

"Davian." Greg shivered, as he breathed the name again.

"The guy that..."

"Don't say it." Greg interrupted him. Clutching handfuls of Nick's shirt, Greg struggled to hold back his tears, while controlling his breathing, so he wouldn't make himself hyperventilate again. "Please, don't say."

"He was here though?" Nick looked around, feeling his heart racing as he had the sudden urge to find him. "That guy that was talkin' to you in there... that was him?" Greg nodded his head. "Why didn't you come get me? He has no right to speak to you, Greg. What's he even doin' here?"

"Don't yell at me! I didn't invite him."

"I... I wasn't." Nick sighed softly, gently smoothing his hands up and down his younger lover's back. "I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. C'mon, we have to getcha home."

Greg shook his head in protest, "We can't... stand up... my Mom. She wants us... over there. It's her special day. Do you know how long... she's wanted to have... art gallery show?" He struggled to speak through his heavy breathing. "I feel dizzy."

Nick directed Greg over to some steps leading up to a parking complex, sitting the younger man down, so he could try and calm him down again, before they ended up leaving here in an ambulance. "Just take big breaths." He instructed, kneeling down in front of him. He watched over him for a few more minutes, waiting for his breathing to return to normal, before he even attempted to move or speak to him again. "How do you feel, baby?"

Greg answered with a shrug, feeling a lot less dizzy now he was sat down.

"If you want, I can go and get the car..."

"Don't leave me here." Greg suddenly panicked.

"No, I wasn't goin' to." He shook his head. "But I'm takin' you home. C'mon Greg, you can't go to your mother's dinner like this."

"I'll be fine. I'm not letting him ruin anymore of my life."

They returned to the art gallery a few minutes later, watching Jean excitedly showing her visitors all of her favourite paintings for a few more minutes, before they all left together, heading in the direction of the Sanders family home for their family get together. Nick kept an eye on Greg the whole time he was driving. He was sat in his passenger seat with the window rolled all the way down, letting the cold wind of the night brush against his pale face. He wanted to drive Greg home so he could look after him, but he didn't want to argue with him at a time like this, so he reluctantly pulled into the driveway of Greg's parents' house.

Greg slowly climbed out of the car, waiting for Nick at the front, before he went to ring the door. "What did they say they needed to talk to us about again?" Nick queried, lifting Danielle down from the car.

"They didn't. My Mom just said that she needed to talk." Greg locked up the car for Nick then led the way towards the front door.

"Are you sure you're okay? Your Mom would understand, Greg."

"I'm fine. I already feel better." He assured him. "Maybe it's about the doctor's appointment? You know she's been kinda down lately. She must have found out what's wrong with her... and now she wants to tell us." Fearing the worst, Greg couldn't quite stretch his finger out to push the doorbell, as he really didn't want to know if his mother was sick or something.

"What?" Nick anxiously looked at Greg, checking him for signs of having another panic attack. "C'mon, we're goin' home."

"No." Greg protested, reaching for the doorbell. "Besides, I'm hungry. And don't say you're not, I heard your tummy rumbling in the car." A small smile graced Greg's lips, before he turned towards the steadily opening door, spotting his Nana Olaf. "Oh god, if you're here it must be bad."

"Don't be so ridiculous and get your butt in this house, mister worry wart." She chuckled, ushering the three of them into the house. "How's my _favourite_ great grandchild?" She asked as she reached her arms out to take her off Nick's hands.

"She's your _only_ great grandchild." Greg reminded her then reached for Nick's hand, gently tugging him off towards the dining room, where his Papa Olaf and parents were all sat waiting to talk to them. Greg hugged them all then dropped into a seat opposite his mother, rubbing his painful stomach, while trying to keep his breathing and shaky hands calm.

"Can I get anybody anything to drink?" Jean suggested, about to climb to her feet, but her father tugged her back down into her seat. "Are you alright, Greg? You look very pale, honey."

"I'm fine, don't change the subject."

"Doncha wonna eat first? I haven't even gotten a hug from my grandbaby all night." She reached her arms out for Danielle in her mother's arms, but Nana Olaf was reluctant to hand her over.

"Tell us before we eat." Nana Olaf demanded, holding the child hostage, as she was an excuse for Jean not to talk. "C'mon."

"Okay, okay." She sighed in defeat. "We might as well get to the point." Lacing her hands with her husband's, Jean gave her family a slight smile as she blurted the news, "I'm pregnant!"

Everyone but Daniel looked at her surprised, wondering if she was kidding to soften them up, before she delivered the real news. Danielle broke the silence with her soft baby babbling as she fiddled with the necklace around Nana Olaf's neck, snapping Greg out of his thoughts. "You're pregnant?" He hissed. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Because I'm telling you now. I'm due in June. The eleventh to be exact." She explained, clutching Daniel's hand tighter, as her parents looked at her shocked. "See... we thought it was menopause, but the doctor took a blood test and found out that I'm actually pregnant. He even took an ultrasound." Jean reached into her husband's suit jacket pocket, showing them the ultrasound picture of their baby.

"So you're okay?" Greg asked, clutching Nick's hand at his side as he examined the picture his mother just handed to him.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just pregnant." Jean nodded, watching Greg handing it over to his Nana Olaf.

"What are you going to do about the adoption?" Nana Olaf queried, holding the picture out of Danielle's reach as she looked at it for herself.

"Well, we haven't told them yet. But we still... we still want to go ahead with the adoption of a child. It can take years to finally go through anyway and there's so many unwanted children, we can't just give up on that dream of having lots of children." She placed her hand on her stomach, looking towards her son as a small smile graced her lips. "You're gonna be a real big brother, Greg. I know you were looking forward to getting a slightly older little brother or sister, so there wouldn't be so many years between you..."

"Mom, I thought... that you couldn't have children anymore? What about...?"

"I know, sweetheart. Doctor Lambert said the baby is doing fine for now. He's going to monitor him or her carefully, and we're trying not to get our hopes up, so we don't get too attached... just in case. This wasn't supposed to happen."

"Babies are never supposed to happen, sweetheart." Nana Olaf chuckled, handing her husband the ultrasound picture, as Danielle tried to reach for it again with her sticky fingers. "That's why babies are miracles. They don't happen when you plan them or decide when you want them. They happen when they want to join the world." She laughed softly, as she bounced Danielle in her arms. "Don't deny it either, how many of you round this table were planned?" She asked them all, laughing as they all looked at her surprised as they thought it over. "Exactly. That's why every baby is a little miracle. And it's gonna be a boy."

"I hate it when you do that." Jean scowled at her.

"It's true, that's why your right breast is bigger than your left." Nana Olaf bluntly told her, causing Jean's cheeks to flush as she checked for herself. "And Greg, you're having a girl. That's what's causing the dry hair and the acne."

"That doesn't work out though because I've been craving sour food the whole time. While I was pregnant with Danielle I was craving sweet food." Greg pointed out to her, not wanting to know the sex of his babies just yet. "And besides, it's twins."

"Twins?" Papa Olaf asked surprised. "You mean... Greg's pregnant and so are you?" He looked towards his daughter then up at his wife, wondering how she had figured it out. "So, there's gonna be three more people in this family for next Christmas? I thought I told you that I liked small families? I can barely remember my own birthday, let alone... nine more." He complained.

"Sorry, Dad. I guess we weren't thinking." Jean gave him a soft smile then took her ultrasound picture back from his hands. "I've been thinking that I've been going through menopause, but now I find out I'm pregnant and so is my son. It's..."

"Creepy." Greg filled in the blank then gave his mother a smile. "Congratulations though. I know how long you've waited to have another baby."

"You'll always be my favourite though, sweetheart." She gave him a warm smile then climbed to her feet, wrapping her arms around him for a hug. "It's gonna be one busy year next year, what with the wedding, the birth of my baby and of your twins. But we'll get through it all together." She smirked, pulling Nick closer by his arm to join the hug. "And I'm sorry I've been an extra pain lately, Nicky. My hormones only make me more worried and annoying, according to Daniel anyway." She giggled, looking round at her husband. "Now, who's hungry? Looks like there's ten mouths to feed now, so we better get started." She smirked, hurrying into the kitchen to grab the readymade food.

"I'm... gonna go lie down." Greg announced, causing everyone to look round at him surprised. "I'm just a little dizzy."

"Well you need to eat then honey." Jean insisted.

"I'll have something later." He assured her, pulling away from Nick's hand, heading towards the stairs.

"He's just... tired." Nick explained, as all eyes turned to him. "He did get a full breakfast and lunch though; I'll make sure he eats somethin' later."

"Probably those twins." Nana presumed, trying to settle her daughter, before she got herself into a panic. "All right, let's eat." She announced, helping her daughter to set the various vegetables and things down on the table.

After dinner, Nick carried an extra plate of food up to Greg's bedroom, deciding he would have to wake him from his sleep to eat, so he wouldn't have to worry about him starving during the night. As he opened the bedroom door, he could see Greg lying across the middle of the bed, clutching a pillow tightly to his chest, as he stared out of the window ahead of him. He was watching the rain drops on his window gently rolling down the glass of the window, before they disappeared.

Just as he was thinking how short a raindrops life was, Nick suddenly appeared beside him with a plate of steaming hot food and a glass of water in the other. "Thanks." Greg whispered softly, giving him a smile, as he struggled to sit up. Nick set the glass of water down on the bedside table then took a seat beside him, watching him taking small mouthfuls of the Pot Roast meal in front of him.

After a few more mouthfuls, Greg set the half finished meal down on the side, taking the glass of water to clench his thirst. "Are you sure that's all you want?" Nick asked.

"I'm not that hungry." Greg felt his tearful eyes stinging as he looked up into Nick's. "I'm not gonna go all crazy again, don't worry."

"You are allowed to feel whatever you're feelin' Greg. You're the one who told _me_ not to bottle, remember?" He whispered softly, gently brushing his fingers through the wets spikes of Greg's hair that were coated in his tears. "You know you can talk to me about anythin', baby."

"I'm okay, Nicky." Greg gave him a slight smile, feeling better already, just with Nick in the room. "One short conversation with him, and it takes me right back to that moment. He was acting as though what he did to me was nothing. I didn't want you near him, because I knew exactly what you'd do if you found out who he was."

"Your damn right I would. He has no right to speak to you. He should be in jail." Nick fumed.

Appreciating the older man's protectiveness over him, Greg leant forwards, gently touching his lips to Nick before he wrapped his arms around him tightly, holding him close against his body. "Exactly the reason why I didn't want you near him. You'd make him suffer your own punishment, and I don't want anything to happen to you because of me."

"You don't get it, Greg. I'd give anythin' to protect you. You mean the world to me."

"I get it." Greg nodded, closing his eyes against him. "I can't believe how much I freaked out. I feel so embarrassed."

"Don't. You have nothin' to be embarrassed for." Moving himself to a comfier position on the bed, Nick held Greg securely against him, deciding to tell him everything that went on during the dinner with Greg's parents, so he wouldn't feel left out. They eventually dozed off to sleep with one another, putting the awful day behind them.

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**I hope you enjoyed all the angst. Hopefully if you read the first story, 'Baby Makes Three' you'll know just who 'Davian' was in this chapter. I had to bring him back at least once to create a little angst :D**

**I should have another chapter ready soon, hopefully by tomorrow, if not the following day. I recently bought a new Dance mix CD, and now whenever I play it and write, I can just sit and concentrate for hours on end, which I usually find really hard to do with my short attention span. :D**

**Thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to review!**

**~ Holly**


	17. Chapter 17: New Beginning

**Thanks for your reviews on the last chapter! And thanks to my beta Alisa for your help on these extra long chapters :D**

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen: New Beginning**

"Daddy, no go." Danielle suddenly shouted, looking up at him through her big puppy dog eyes.

"I wasn't." Nick assured her, dumping her clothes into the laundry hamper just outside of the door, before he returned to the bathroom, waiting for the little miss to finish on her throne. "You recon you can go a whole night with your nappy on tonight?" Danielle immediately shook her head. "You don't think you can do it? Do you remember what day it is tomorrow?" Danielle shook her head again, looking up at him confused. "It's your birthday." He reminded her, turning towards the bath to turn the water off. "Do you know what day it is after that?"

"She never knows what day it is." Greg giggled, appearing in the doorway with a spoon in one hand and a tub of ice cream in the other.

"Greg, you just had dinner." Nick scolded him, lifting Danielle into the bath tub once she was done. Danielle lifted her legs up as Nick tried to set her down in the warm water, making Greg laugh, as he still didn't have the right technique. "I can't put you in the bath if you keep liftin' yah legs."

"No. Hot." Danielle winced, clutching his arms. "I want, Dada." She pointed to Greg.

"I wasn't gonna burn yah." Nick assured her, holding her against his side again, checking the bath water with his hand. "See, it's not hot. It's barely as warm as my hand. You've gotta let me bath you at least once this week." He pouted at her then lifted her back into the bath, giving her a smile as she actually put her feet down this time. "See, I told you." He smiled at her then turned to look at Greg in the doorway. "You can't _still_ be hungry, G."

"I am. I'm eating for three." Greg reminded him.

"No, Daddy." Danielle objected, pushing Nick's hand away, not wanting him to do her bath time, as Greg was always the one to do it. "I want, Dada." She repeated.

"Fine." Nick gave in, feeling like the neglected parent lately, as she always wanted Greg to do everything.

"Don't take it personally, Tex. I told you about this in the baby books." Greg reminded him, handing his ice cream tub over to Nick, so he could carefully remove the bands from Danielle's hair, as Nick didn't have the gentle touch like he did. "Toddlers apparently go through phases of preferring one parent over the other. She does it to me too, yah know. When you're not here, she hates having me read to her or feed her dinner, because that's always your thing to do. Anne's son, Freddie does the exact same thing, only he prefers his mother to do everything."

"Okay." Nick smiled at him, thankful to always have Greg around to cheer him up.

"You know your Daddy, Nicky gave you your first bath." Greg whispered to his daughter, kneeling down beside the bath as Danielle started to play with her toys in the water. "And he cried because he finally got to meet his beautiful little girl." He cheekily added.

"I was not cryin'." Nick protested, perching himself on the edge of the bath. "I don't cry."

"He was. He was crying more than you." Greg grinned towards Danielle, giving his boyfriend a cheeky smile. "You even cried on her first birthday when she put her foot in the cake, and her second birthday when she managed to blow her candles out."

"That wasn't cryin'. That was... happiness, not cryin'." Nick continued to protest, holding the condensated pot of ice cream between his hands. "You've cried... way more than me, G." He pointed to his fiancé, handing him the tear free shampoo for Danielle's hair.

"No, Dada." Danielle pushed his hands away, as he tried to pour water over her hair.

"I wasn't gonna get it in your eyes." He promised her, tilting her head back, as he poured the water from the cup over her head again. "Hey Nicky, did you get a clean towel, nappy or pyjamas?" Greg queried, looking around the bathroom for them. The Texan looked around the room then shook his head, quickly scrambling to his feet to go grab them. "I've told you hundreds of times that you need to bring that stuff with you, in order to make your job in the bathroom easier, Nicky!" Greg called after him, gently massaging some of the shampoo into Danielle's hair.

"I know. I know." Nick returned with everything in his arms. "I left it on the bed. Don't worry, I wasn't gonna leave her alone in the bath while I went to get it though."

"And everyone thinks you're the organised one out of the two of us." Greg giggled, grabbing the wash cloth to wipe away the shampoo dribbling down the side of Danielle's head. "You didn't get a towel, Nicky." He pointed out to him then reached for Danielle's sponge to wash her down with.

Nick hurried back to the bedroom, grabbing the cuddle and dry hooded towel from the dresser, carrying it back through to the bathroom. He realised that he would have to make himself some sort of list to remember these things, as they would soon be dealing with three children under the age of three that would need a lot more attention than the one they already got.

"You know what I can't wait to do?" Nick knelt down beside the bath, moving the tub of ice cream aside, as he looked towards Greg. "Shoppin' for the twins. I can't wait to buy the little matchin' outfits, the cute little hats and these adorable hooded towels."

"Yeah, but it's back to diapers again. We thought we saw our last diaper when we taught her how to use a potty, but now we have to go all the way back to the beginning again." He smirked, gently scrubbing the bottoms of Danielle's feet. "I know what you mean though; I can't wait to buy all the matching outfits either. Would you prefer twin girls, twin boys or one of each?"

"I'm not really that bothered." Nick smiled through his excitement. "I guess it would be nice to have at least one boy though, since I already have two girls. But I really won't be bothered." He assured him, watching Danielle playing with the little boats, rubber ducks and the swimming frog around her, completely ignoring Greg as he scrubbed her down with the sponge in his hands. "Who would believe that you were the one afraid to become a parent when we found out about this one?" Nick suddenly smirked. "You're a complete natural at it compared to me."

"I just got the hang of it quicker, since I'm usually the one to do the bath time routine, while you're working." Greg smiled towards him, grabbing the cup from the bath water to wash the shampoo from her hair. "You know the baby books say that toddlers play favourites with anything and everything. They don't like a lot of change. They like a nice structured and simple routine. That's why she never likes new toys, because the old ones are more familiar to her. I read this article about this little boy who preferred his mother more than his father. The mother and the boy did absolutely everything together, but the little boy never wanted to play with his father then his mother changed the colour of her hair, and the little boy was too afraid to even go near her."

Nick chuckled. "You're readin' a lot of baby books lately, G."

"So, I'm about to be a parent of three and a big brother." Greg reminded him. "Parenting twins is gonna be a lot more difficult then parenting this one little girl. Unlike Danielle, twins share everything, from the space in my womb, to bedrooms, birthdays and toys... we have to decide whether to keep them in the same classes at school, how to tell them apart if they're identical. We even have to pick names that kinda match, but aren't the annoying rhyming kind. There's twin boys in day care called Cody and Caden, and everyone's always getting them mixed up, because they're completely identical. Apparently they have this one little difference though. One of them has this little scar above his right eye, but I can never remember if its Cody or Caden that has it."

Nick chuckled softly, gently pressing a kiss to his lover's cheek. "Baby, you don't need to worry about all that sort of stuff yet. Do you know how rare identical twins are?"

"Yes, an estimated eleven million living in the world today." Greg pointed out to him, remembering his reading from the baby books. "Your twin sisters were identical when they were born, so we have to at least consider that they might be identical. But that's not what's really worrying me, that's kinda cool."

"What's worryin' you then?" Nick queried.

"Not all twins go full term; most of them have to be born earlier, meaning they're not always fully developed. Cody and Caden were born four weeks early and they were in those little ventilated cribs for the first seven weeks of their lives. They had three corrective surgeries each, before they even reached their first birthday. Their mother told me that she gained like forty pounds for her pregnancy, and she's still pretty big now."

"My twin sisters were born at thirty nine weeks, and they were fine. My Mama left the hospital with them the same day they were born. It's different for everyone's pregnancy, G. You can't worry about all this." He spoke softly, gently smoothing his palm up and down the younger man's back. "You're only six weeks pregnant, don't worry yourself with all of this yet, baby."

"Okay." Greg smiled at him, leaning forwards to snatch a kiss from his lips. "You can do the story tonight, if you want, Nicky." He suggested, pouring some more water over his child's head. "She loves it when you do the story, doncha?"

"Yeah." Danielle agreed, splashing her hands down in her bath water, spraying each of her fathers with the soapy bath water.

"Oh lovely." Nick chuckled, wiping the bubbles from his partner's forehead, before he lifted his child from the bath water into her warm towel. Sucking her thumb as Nick gently towel dried her body, Danielle began to feel sleepy already, barely noticing Greg fitting a diaper into place at her hips, before he dressed her in her short sleeved Miffy, nightie.

Nick gently towel dried her hair then carefully sat her down on his lap to cut her finger and toe nails. He carried her through to her bedroom once he was done, brushing her hair, before he sat down on the chair beside her crib with her on his lap, reading her a bed time story. Once the story was over, Nick touched his lips to his sleeping child's forehead, carefully setting her down in her crib.

Making his way into the bedroom next door, Nick smiled as Greg was sat against the headboard with another baby book in his hands, reading through all the tid bits of information on each page. He crawled onto the bed with Greg, snuggling up beside him on top of the covers. "Whatcha readin', hun?"

"Sixty percent of twins are born prematurely." Greg pointed to the page, watching Nick rolling his eyes at him. "I'm sorry, I hafta know about this stuff, Nicky. Look there's this whole section on the risks of premature babies. Babies born before their time aren't always ready for the outside world. The earlier they're born, the greater the risks. Did you know I'm at more risk too?"

"Honey, stop with the readin'." Nick snapped the book shut, tossing it to the end of the bed. "Christmas is stressful enough without you addin' to it about all this stuff that probably won't happen."

"They could. I wonna be prepared in case it does. You know baby B's heart is weaker then baby A? Well I checked online, and it's a common thing among twins with twin transfusion syndrome. They share blood, but the first baby gets more of is, resulting in the second baby to have stunted growth and all sorts of things, because they're smaller and have..."

Nick covered his hand over Greg's mouth, looking him in the eye. "Hun, you've gotta stop with this obsessive behaviour of tryin' to find somethin' wrong with them and just focus on the fact that we managed to get pregnant again, and they're growin' completely normal. My brother Chuck had two sets of twins. He had fraternal twin boys that were born a little early, but they were fine. And his wife just had twin girls and they were completely fine too. You've got Stokes babies in yah belly, G. We have strong DNA. Out of my... twenty or so nieces and nephews, not one of them has any kinda life threatenin' illness. They were all big healthy babies, and ours are gonna be like that too." He tried to assure him, slowly removing his hand from his mouth. "Now it's time to sleep, its Christmas eve tomorrow and your little girl's third birthday." He reminded him, reaching over him to turn the light off.

"Sorry." Greg whispered, lifting the covers so Nick could climb underneath with him, once he removed his jeans. "I thought reading about all the possibilities would help ease my mind. But now I find out that there's vanishing twins, transfusion syndromes and all sorts of new things that come with multiple births."

"If they're meant to be then they'll come, if they're not... then they're not." Nick shrugged, as if it was nothing. "Not all babies are meant to be born."

"I hate it when people say that. It doesn't even make any sense."

"It's just what people say to try and explain the bad things that happen in this world." His partner whispered against his ear, circling his arms around him. "Our babies are gonna be born, hun. You'll see."

Mindlessly brushing his fingers through Nick's hair, Greg murmured, "I hope you're right." Holding Nick's arm tightly around his body, Greg whispered, "You realise it's like three hours until Danielle's birthday." He suddenly pointed to the time. "My Dad was probably riding me down in the elevator from my old apartment at this time, while we were trying to contact you."

"Yeah, and Judy was runnin' towards me, shoutin', 'Greg's in labour'." Nick chuckled at the memory.

"Can you believe our little baby is gonna be three?"

"I know... seems like just yesterday she was in here." The older man moved his hand to Greg's stomach, pressing a kiss to his partner's neck. "Thank you for everythin', Greg. You have no idea how much I love you."

"Right back at yah, Tex."

* * *

Lifting the red and white striped jersey dress down over his daughter's head, Nick smiled as she just continued with what she was doing, as if he hadn't even done anything. He sat her down on his lap to pull some socks on her feet, grabbing her brand new converse sneakers that looked just the same as Greg's, only a quarter of the size. He was amazed that they even made converse sneakers that size.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Greg tapped his watch then adjusted his t-shirt over the top of his jeans, feeling as though his stomach was getting bigger already.

"Yep." Nick finished tying Danielle's shoe laces then climbed to his feet, lifting her up onto his hip as he tried to gather up the bag he had packed with diapers and a change of clothes inside. "I just texted, Libby. She spent the night at her friend's house, so I'll need the map from your car. She gave me directions, but just in case."

"Your car has a SAT..." Greg went to reminded him, reaching for the bag from his hands.

"That thing always craps out." Nick interrupted him, adjusting Danielle against the other side of his chest. "Can you just get the map from your car? It won't take you two seconds." He smiled at him, stepping around him to go and lock up the house before they left.

Greg reluctantly got the map from his car, loading everything into Nick's car, constantly checking the time on his watch, as they had over slept and they were going to be late for Jean Sanders' traditional Christmas Eve lunch.

"There's one more thing we gotta do." Nick ushered Greg back into the house, towards the front room. Greg looked at him confused then watched as he retrieved a marker pen. Nick set Danielle down on the floor, indicating towards the doorframe they had been using to record her height each birthday.

"It's hard to remember her ever being that small." Greg smirked, pointing to the marker they recorded after they brought her back from the hospital at just eighteen inches.

"I know. She's gettin' really tall too quick." Nick chuckled, setting her back against the frame then handed Greg the pen. While Greg recorded the date above the new marker, Nick measured it out, giving Greg a wide smile, as he reported, "That's thirty six inches. That means you've doubled in size since you came out of Daddy's belly." He smiled at Danielle, lifting her up into his arms.

"I haven't even grown an inch since my last birthday." Greg smirked, checking the time on his watch again.

"I thought I was the time keeper." Nick playfully tickled his partner then led them off towards the front door. Holding Danielle against his side, Nick struggled to lock the door then turned towards Greg by his truck. "We'll make it, Greg. Libby's friend's house is on the way to your mother's. Traffics not that bad, and we don't have to stop for gas or anythin'." He pointed out to his younger lover, strapping Danielle into her seat in the back of his car. "C'mon baby, we can't leave without you in the car."

"Okay." Greg sighed in defeat, climbing into the passenger seat of his boyfriend's car. He pulled his seatbelt on then fiddled with Nick's stereo, not wanting to listen to his country boy crap for the whole journey.

A few minutes later, Nick pulled up outside a much nicer looking house then Valerie's, taking a look at the cars in the driveway, noticing the old Dodge Challenger that Libby told him to look out for. "I think this is it." He pointed to it, putting his truck in park. "You wonna stay here a sec?"

"Yeah, just hurry up." Greg cranked up the air conditioning, fanning his face.

"I will." Nick pecked a kiss to his cheek then climbed out the truck, making his way up the cobbled path lined with decorative flowers, towards the front door of the posh house. He nervously checked to see if his flies were zipped then reached his hand out to ring the bell, brushing his shirt to straighten out the creases.

"Hello." A woman in her mid thirties with medium length blonde hair, greeted him at the door. "I'm Angela Spacey, you must be Nick. Libby's father, right?" Nick gave her a nod, relieved that this woman was actually wearing clothes that actually suited her moderate curves. "Well come on in, the kids are in the garden. Casey and Libby have been hanging out by the pool all morning, by my advice of course. You know our girls, they'd rather stay in their rooms fiddling about with computers and things, but I managed to persuade them to get some sunshine. It is such a lovely day after all. Did you find the place alright?"

"Yeah, yes I did." He nodded, making his way into the house, taking a look around at all the expensive things.

"Pardon the mess in here. My seven month old just woke up from his nap, so I never got the chance to clean up." Angela apologised for a few plates left on the kitchen table, that really didn't look that messy at all. "Libby!" She called out the back door. "Your father's here."

Nick fully expected Angela's daughter to be some sweet little bible studying girl, but he was actually completely surprised to see Libby sat with a goth looking girl around the sparkling family pool, with three other children splashing about in the clear blue water.

"That's my daughter, Casey." Angela pointed her out. "Not what you were expecting, huh? She's going through a little adolescent phase. I've read it's better to accept, rather than push them to change. As long as she asks me about the various piercings, hair colourings and tattoos first, she doesn't get grounded. It's worked very well in my favour."

"Mm." Nick nodded to her, thinking this woman was completely nuts.

Libby grabbed her bag off the chair beside her then carefully made her way around the pool, waving goodbye to her friend, Casey. As she approached Nick, she could immediately see the look in his eyes as he was studying the side of her face. She moved her hair to cover more of her face then pulled the baseball cap from her bag down over her head, wishing she had taken Casey's advice with the dark gothic makeup after all.

Nick thanked Angela then led Libby off through the house, back towards the front door. "Merry Christmas!" Angela shouted after them, waving the two of them off down the drive.

"That girl's name is, Casey Spacey?" Greg immediately asked, as the two of them climbed into the truck. "That's like... the cruellest name ever."

"We all call her Spacey Casey at school, it doesn't bother her as much as it used to." Libby smirked, setting her bag down on the floor, as she pulled a seat belt down over her shoulder. "Her Mom's like a total Stepford wife. Sometimes, it's like she's not even human. She always wants every little thing in her house to be perfect. She used to scold her babies for kicking her while they were still inside of her when she was having a conversation with someone. She really creeps me out."

"You think that's bad, wait till you meet my mother." Greg laughed, adjusting the volume of the radio, so he could hear Libby without having to shout at one another through the seats of the car. "Did you manage to sneak a peek of any of your Christmas presents?"

"Yeah, I got to open a few today. Angela gave me this." Libby lifted the necklace from beneath her t-shirt, showing Greg the skull and crossed bones dangling from it. "Casey copied all of her CD's onto this MP3 player that Cameron's father bought for my Mom, but she had no idea what it was, so she gave it to me." She smirked, pulling out the small blue device with long white headphones dangling from it. "The only thing is, I'll never be able to charge it up, since the most advanced electrical device in my house is the coffee maker that tells time."

Greg threw his head back in laughter, taking a look at the songs she had on it. "Hey, you got the new Mobscene single."

"Yeah, it's not that great. The last one was better." Nick looked between the two of them, wondering what on earth they were talking about, feeling a little left out yet again, as Greg and Libby were so much alike. "Casey's a total Industrial music junkie, that's why she copied all the Nine Inch Nails stuff on there. She likes Black Sabbath and Metallica too, which I can't stand, but the Korn stuff is really good."

"I love Korn, Nick calls it white noise." Greg giggled, playfully poking his partner in the arm. "You did just buy me the Untouchables CD though, so you're totally forgiven." He winked at him.

"Is that the new one?" Libby queried.

"Yeah, it came out... like in June or something. I can let you borrow it if you want?" He suggested, handing her back the MP3 player, once he had looked through all the songs. "You can always charge it up on my laptop whenever you like, Libby. Mine always goes dead on me like after two hours or so."

"Thanks." Libby smiled at him, realising she probably had the coolest step father in the world.

Nick pulled into the Sanders' driveway a few minutes later, turning everything off, before he walked around the car to hold the doors open for everyone, grabbing the bags from the back, while Greg lifted Danielle free from the car.

"Don't worry about being on your best behaviour." Greg smiled at Libby, leading the way towards the front door. He adjusted Danielle in his arms then reached out for the doorbell, watching Nick locking up the car, balancing all the bags in his arms in the process. "Ya'ight there, Nicky?" He giggled softly.

"Are you movin' in here or somethin', G? You've never bought so much stuff round here."

"It's Christmas Eve and your daughter's birthday." Greg reminded him, turning his head towards the door as his father finally answered it. "Hey, Dad." Greg smiled widely, reaching his free arm out to him, as Daniel immediately leant closer towards his son for a hug. "Dad, this is Nick's daughter, Libby." He introduced them. "Libby, this is my father, Daniel Sanders."

Libby smiled as she looked at the man in the doorway, who looked like a future version of Greg, with more natural hair. "Hello, Libby." He greeted her with a handshake and a warm smile then stepped out the door to help Nick with some of the bags. "C'mon through." He ushered them into the house. "Jean's in the kitchen, just putting the finishing touches to the lunch."

"Hello!" Jean loudly greeted them, rushing to hug her son and grandchild, before she moved onto Nick. "And you must be, Libby. Greg's told me so much about you. I'm, Jean Sanders, Greg's mother." She introduced herself, giving the girl a quick hug, rather than a bone crushing one like the others.

"Jeez, Mom... there's enough food here to feed an army." Greg exclaimed, looking around at it all.

"Yes, I hope you're hungry, we've got Roast pumpkin and green bean salad with creamy potato salad and herbs, with a choice of roast ham or turkey. Since my father's off red meat, I thought I'd do some turkey too."

"Nana and Papa Olaf are here too?" Greg asked surprised, watching his Nana Olaf suddenly appearing from behind the counter with a serving dish in her hands.

"Hello, sweetheart." She smiled at him, handing the dish to her daughter, so she had free hands to hold her great grandchild. "And Happy Birthday to you, Munchkin. I can't believe you're three already. It's hard to believe she was ever five pounds, twelve ounces." She remembered, pecking a kiss to the top of Danielle's head.

"I told you they grow up so fast. I still remember that day in the hospital like it was yesterday." Jean smiled at her son, watching as her son lifted the silver chained necklace from around his neck, looking at the red ruby carved into a heart dangling from it that Nick had bought him when Danielle was born. "Okay, c'mon then everyone... before it gets cold." Jean ushered them over to the table, sitting Nick, Greg and Libby together on one side of the table. Daniel helped Nick set down the bags then watched as his wife took Danielle off her mother's hands, pressing gentle kisses to her forehead. "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart." She whispered, lifting her down into her own seat.

Jean and Nana Olaf served the food round to everyone, before taking their own seats at the table. Libby sat back in her seat, watching the rest of them in case they were going to say grace or anything like Casey's family did, but the Sanders family didn't seem all that religious.

"So Gregory, how's that split personality thing going?" His mother grinned at him, as she handed the tray of meat over to Nick.

"I don't have a split personality." He scowled across the table at her.

"Your mother does." Daniel spoke up, giving his wife a warm smile. "I really don't mind it though. You were a lot calmer when you were pregnant with Greg."

"I was eighteen when I was pregnant with Greg." She reminded her husband. "Are you taking the prenatal vitamins and things, honey?"

"Yes, my doctor got me a prescription for the chewable fruity ones, because the others didn't help with my morning sickness. They just made me even more sick. He said as long as there aren't any other problems, I won't have to go back until my ten week scan in January."

"We'll have to arrange a baby shower around your wedding." She suggested, watching her son instantly rolling his eyes. "C'mon honey, you have to have a baby shower. Especially for twins, tell him, Nicky."

Nick gulped the food in his mouth down hard, turning to look at his fiancé beside him. "Well... I guess we could have one. We had one for Danielle, and we got all the things we needed. Some stuff that we didn't even know we needed." He tried to persuade his partner.

"Fine." Greg reluctantly agreed, pulling Danielle's high chair closer, as she was having trouble feeding herself. Once everyone was done with their lunch, Daniel and Papa Olaf cleared away the plates, while Jean retrieved the birthday cake from the fridge, setting it up with three candles.

"Ready everybody!" Jean lifted the cake into her hands, carefully making her way over to the table, where Greg was sat with Danielle now sat on his lap.

"Happy Birthday to you!" They all started to sing together, watching Danielle's eyes lighting up, as her Nana carried the Kitten decorated cake over to her, as Danielle had been obsessed with cats for the past few months. "Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to Danielle! Happy Birthday to you!"

Jean carefully set the cake down on the table in front of Danielle then quickly grabbed her camera from the side to take a photograph, before she whispered, "Make a wish, sweetheart." Danielle tilted her head back against Greg's chest, looking up at him through her big brown eyes. Greg carefully lifted her a little higher, so she was eye level with the candles, whispering something into her ear before he helped her to blow her candles out.

As soon as Danielle managed to blow all three of her candles out, Jean unexpectedly burst into tears, making everyone look round at her surprised. She apologised, covering her hand over her mouth, but immediately started to cry again, blubbering like a baby.

"Oh... c'mon snivels." Daniel chuckled softly, pulling his wife into his arms to hug her. "Don't mind her; she's been doing this all morning."

Danielle watched her Nana curiously, while Nana Olaf decided to take over and slice the birthday cake for everyone. She handed a piece round to everyone, while Daniel calmed down his wife from her burst of emotion caused by the increase in hormones from her pregnancy.

"That dress lasted nearly an hour," Nick commented, checking the time on his watch, as another piece of chocolate stained one of the white stripes of Danielle's dress. "You're wearin' more of the cake then you've put in your mouth, bubs."

"Just like Greg, used to do." Papa Olaf teased his grandson.

Greg scowled across the table at him then turned his attention back towards Nick beside him, watching him carefully wiping away the chocolate from around Danielle's mouth. "Maybe next year your Daddy will let you have a proper birthday party with all your friends?" Jean suggested, watching her son instantly rolling his eyes. "I know you think she's too young, but I gave you a birthday party with all of your friends, every birthday you had."

"I barely had any friends." Greg reminded her.

"You always had me." She giggled then checked the time on her watch. "Let's get this party really started then. We've got party games..."

"Doncha think we're all a little old to play party games? Especially since Danielle can barely hold a cup, we'll be the ones doing everything." Greg pointed out to his mother.

Playfully ruffling her son's hair, Jean teased, "You're such a party pooper, Gregory. As I was saying, party games then we've got a few birthday presents for Danielle to unwrap then we can start the Christmas Eve celebration and give the rest of you your Christmas presents." She finished then started to clear away the plates from the birthday cake.

"I have to go change her first." Nick lifted Danielle from Greg's arms as he climbed to his feet, carrying her off into the other room to change her out of her sticky clothes. He changed her out of the red and white striped dress into the spare blue tiered dress with shearing detail, that wasn't quite as Christmassy, but it was one of Nick's favourites on her. "You need to go potty?" He asked her.

"No." Danielle immediately shook her head, looking up at the large, beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the freshly painted living room. "Daddy!" She exclaimed, pointing to one of the ornaments in the tree that had a photo of her from the hospital in Greg's arms.

"Yeah baby, that's you." Nick smiled, lifting her higher to take a closer look. He turned it over the other side, showing her the picture of all three of them together. "Exactly three years ago today that was taken. You were only a couple of hours old in those pictures."

"C'mon everybody!" Jean's voice suddenly echoed through the hall, as she ushered everyone through to the front room. Jean directed them to sit on either of the two sofas, while she grabbed the first party game of pass the parcel.

Reluctantly, Greg dropped onto the end of the sofa nearest the Christmas tree, folding his arms across his chest as he watched his mother setting up a CD of Christmassy music. Nick sat himself down on the floor beside Greg, leaning back against his partner's legs as he sat Danielle down on his lap. They unwillingly joined in the party game Jean wanted to play, deciding it was better to do whatever the hormonal pregnant, control freak wanted, rather than get in an argument with her about it.

Libby however, really didn't seem to mind Jean's unusual energetic enthusiasm over everything. The pass the parcel game seemed strange at first, but once she got the hang of it and saw the tasks that each person got on their turn, she started to really enjoy it.

Nana Olaf got 'put lipstick on the person to your right, blindfolded'. Unfortunately the person to her right happened to be her husband, and Nana Olaf hadn't been very good with her hand eye coordination for the past few years, so he ended up looking like a miserable clown. Daniel had the recite the alphabet backwards, making him wish he hadn't had so much wine at lunch. Greg managed to get lucky with a chocolate bar on his first go then a packet of M&M's on his second go, which he shared with Libby beside him.

Nick gave out a sudden groan as Jean managed to stop the music on him again. The last time it stopped on him he had to name three Spice Girl songs, but he had no idea who they even were. Ripping open the next sheet of wrapping, Nick grabbed for the folded piece of paper, reading, "Name the seven dwarfs." He immediately heard Greg trying to stifle a laugh, as he knew that he wouldn't know that answer to that one.

"C'mon then, Nicky." Jean urged him on, giving him a wide smile as he looked up at her through a grumpy frown.

"Um... Dopey, Doc . . . Grumpy . . . Sneezy," Nick pursed his lips together, trying to think of the other three. He looked towards Greg, watching him giving him an increasingly wide smile. "Oh, Happy."

"That's five." Jean calculated.

Nick turned towards Greg again, hoping for him to give him a hint. "Uh... Bashful."

"Gregory, that's cheating." His mother scolded him from across the room.

"Is not." He childishly protested, making Libby beside him giggle. "Technically we're a team anyway." He pointed out to her, giving Nick another hint.

"Sleepy." Nick remembered the last one from his fiancé's clues. "I've never even watched whatever show they're from."

"That would be Snow White, sweetheart." Jean giggled, starting up the music again, with a little bit of Greg's techno music to get them dancing in their seats as they handed around the parcel between the seven of them. Greg especially started to dance in his seat, making Libby beside him giggle even more.

Once the pass the parcel game was finally over, Jean decided to start a 'Who am I?' game. She stuck stickers with a names of a famous people to everyone heads, making them ask questions about who they were to see if they could guess correctly. She didn't give Danielle one of course, as she was too young to know what the game was about.

"Would you like to open one of your birthday presents, sweetheart?" Jean suggested, handing Danielle the first of her presents, while they continued to play the game.

Leaning back against her father's chest, Danielle picked at the corner of the tightly wrapped present. She watched all the adults laughing and talking a moment then started to fiddle with the wrapping again, finally tearing it open to find an eight piece stencil set. There were fishes and crabs, birds, flowers, farm animals, shapes and letters of the alphabet. She ran her curious fingers across the box, wondering if anyone had got her any paper to try them out, as she loved to colour.

"Dr Seuss?" Daniel made his first guess, after twenty three questions as to who he was. The immediate cheering was a dead giveaway, so he pulled the sticker off his head to check for himself.

"Okay Nicky, your turn." Jean smiled in his direction, watching Danielle tracing the stencils with her fingertips as she managed to get the box open.

"I gotta big clue for you..."

"No, Gregory." Jean scolded her son, seeing the expression on his face, knowing he was going to give it away in a second. "You have to let him guess like the rest of us."

"Fine." Greg kept the famous quote to himself, leaning back in his seat so Nick could try and guess who he was for himself.

"Okay, am I alive or dead?" Nick asked the first question.

"Alive." They all answered.

"Boy or girl?"

While the grownups continued to talk, Danielle crawled out of Nick's embrace to grab another box, flinching as the flash of a camera suddenly hit her again. Furiously blinking her eyes a few times, Danielle reached for the present in front of her again, eagerly ripping open the birthday wrapping paper, finding Christmassy colouring books.

She didn't quite understand this Christmas holiday just yet, but she was starting to enjoy it already, and there was still a whole stack of packaged gifts beneath the tree, ready and waiting to be opened.

"Okay, so I'm an action movie hero. A body builder. A guy and I'm older then everyone in this room." Nick tapped his chin, looking around at them all as he tried to think of some more questions to ask. "I don't know." He shrugged.

"Can I do my quote now?" Greg pleaded, begging to say it.

"No, Gregory." Jean scolded him again. "Ask some more questions, Nicky." She insisted, as his one was probably the easiest one in the room.

"Am I married?"

"Yes." Jean nodded. "He was once in a movie that's very similar to Greg's situation." She decided to give him a big clue.

Nick looked at her blankly then watched Greg pointing to his stomach, miming a big round stomach in front of him. "They've been pregnant?" He queried.

"Yeah, in a movie." Libby giggled; surprised he didn't get it from that.

"Oh... that... Junior movie? Arnold Schwarzenegger."

"Yay!" Jean applauded him, watching him finally removing the sticker from his head to take a look. "It's about time too, that was... thirty seven questions, Nicky. Gregory, your turn. Try and get it in under twenty." She pointed to him, jumping up to grab everyone more drinks again.

While Greg started asking the group questions about who he was, Danielle ripped open another present, finding crayons and colouring pencils inside. Nick helped her with the rest of the wrapping, watching her curious little fingers running across the bright colours.

"Martha Stewart!" Greg suddenly declared then took a look at the sticker, giving his mother a wide grin as he guessed it in the short time it took her to walk across the hall to the kitchen. "

"That was nineteen questions." Nana Olaf calculated. "I think Greg's won already."

Please, that was too easy." Greg giggled.

"Don't be such a know it all, Greg." She playfully ruffled her son's hair, handing him the glass of water from her hands. "Your turn, Libby. Feel free to ask for all the hints and clues you like, sweetheart."

As Libby started to ask her questions, Danielle crawled towards the coffee table with her new colouring books, reaching for the colouring pencils she had unwrapped from Nick's hands. Her Grandpa Daniel helped her to remove the clear packaging around them then watched as she flipped through the pages of her colouring book, finding an interesting looking reindeer to colour in first.

"She's nothing like you, Greg." Jean suddenly laughed, snapping another picture of the child colouring. "You would have ripped all those presents open within the first five minutes. She's opened three and she's happy already."

"Because you put all her favourite things closest to her. And she's three, so she thought she'd open three. She's my bright little baby." Greg pointed out to his mother with a giggle. "You know how much she loves colouring and drawing. You used to put my favourite things furthest away from me, so I would unwrap everything."

"That's right. I used to put the socks and things closest to you to get you through the disappointing ones as quick as possible." She remembered, finally handing Nick his drink, once she was done photographing everything. "Can I get you anything to drink, Libby? I know I've probably asked you that like hundreds of times, but don't be afraid to ask."

"No thank you, Mrs Sanders. I'm fine." Libby insisted, wishing she had a mother like Jean.

"Are you...?"

"Mom, she's fine." Greg assured her, directing her over to her seat, before she asked her again. "And stop with the camera. You've blinded us all enough today." He warned her, handing the bowl of pretzels back over to Libby beside him, as he had already eaten half the bowl from his cravings. "You got who you are yet?" He queried.

"Um... no." She shook her head.

"I can give you a quote that's not totally obvious from one of his movies." Greg suggested, waiting for his mother's approval, before he went ahead and did it. "I know about three of them, so... 'If my answers frighten you, you should cease asking scary questions'." He quoted the first. "And... 'Oh I'm sorry, did I break yah concentration?'..."

"Pulp Fiction." Libby immediately guessed the film then tried to think of the actor's name, "Samuel L Jackson."

"Yeah." Greg grinned, high fiving her. "See, they're only totally obvious if you've seen the film."

"That was still cheating, Greg." Jean scowled at him, taking a seat beside her husband, so they could hand round their Christmas gifts for one another. Greg quickly shifted aside on the sofa, as his boyfriend complained of getting cramps in his knees, from sitting on the floor. Jean managed to buy heaps of clothes and things for everyone, even Libby, while the rest of them got each other one or two gifts each.

Danielle soon got tired of her colouring, deciding to curl up in Grandpa Daniel's arms, as the rest of the family started to watch the traditional Christmas movies together. Danielle soon fell asleep against his chest, keeping Daniel glued to the sofa while everyone else helped to prepare the Christmas Eve dinner.

"Dinner Time!" Jean's voice rang through the house.

Nick made his way off towards the front room while everyone sat down, lifting Danielle from her grandfather's arms, so he could get up. "Thanks, Nick." Daniel smiled, climbing to his feet.

Nick nodded to him, steadying his sleeping child against his chest. "Daniel..." Nick awkwardly stopped him from leaving the room, wanting to thank him in return, but he didn't know how to phrase it. "I um... I just wanted to say thanks, for everythin' you and Jean have done for me. Most parents don't welcome their son's boyfriend with such open arms, especially not one with another child from a previous relationship."

"Hey, it's okay." Daniel assured him. "You don't have to thank us. Really, we should be thanking you. You've made our Greg happier than we ever could have imagined, and you've given us this beautiful new life." He indicated towards Danielle in his arms. "We'd never turn you away, or your daughter, Libby. You mean the world to Greg, and he means the world to us."

Nick clenched his teeth into his lower lip, giving Greg's father a nod as he struggled to hold back his emotion. Daniel gave him a smile then turned towards the kitchen, pecking a kiss to his son's forehead, before he walked round the table to his own seat.

Greg smiled at him, wondering what that kiss was for, as he hadn't done anything special lately. He turned towards the door behind him as he heard footsteps, watching Nick setting Danielle down in the play pen across the hall. He wrapped a blanket around her then touched a kiss to his finger, gently pressing it to her temple, before he joined the others around the table for Christmas Eve dinner.

After dinner, Nick and Greg took a seat in the front room, putting their feet up on the coffee table as they watched the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree. Nana and Papa Olaf decided to take Libby on the grand tour of the house, showing her everything, from Greg's grand chess set to Papa Olaf's coin collection.

"Check this out boys." Jean lifted her granddaughter down onto the floor in the front room, holding her little hands up over her head, as she aided her in walking towards her two fathers in her brand new dress. "It's called a champagne and burgundy embroidered taffeta flower dress."

The dress was sleeveless in a soft yellow colour with a burgundy sash and flowers stitched into the bodice. A pink flower broach sat on the burgundy sash with ribbons and pearls dangling from it. Danielle was also wearing a matching headband over her short strands of dark brown hair, and she was already starting to fiddle with the ribbons hanging from her sash.

"What's it for?" Greg immediately asked, admiring how beautiful his little princess looked in it.

"Her bridesmaid dress of course." She chortled, shaking her head at her son. "What do you think? I saw it while I was out shopping the other day, and I just had to get it. Isn't she adorable?"

"Yeah." Nick agreed. "But you know she's been growin' a lot lately, it probably won't fit by the actual weddin' day." He pointed out to her.

"I know. I just fell in love with it. And check this out." She crouched down to Danielle's level, lifting the front of her dress to reveal the frilly ivory nappy pants, covering her diaper that she had been sleeping in underneath. "Aren't they just so cute? I also got her some tights and a little pair of ivory sandals. All she needs now is a flower basket. I've already ordered all the napkins and things in the same sort of colours, so she'll match everything from your wedding theme."

Greg rolled his eyes at her then lifted his little girl into his arms, readjusting the dress, as he sat her down on his lap.

"You both hate it don't you. You'll never learn to appreciate that little girls need pretty little things."

"She has lots of pretty things." Greg assured her. "I just didn't think that you were making this bigger deal about the clothes and things for our wedding. And she really will grow out of this."

"That's a two to three year olds sized dress. She still has some room to grow into it, provided you marry within the next year or so this time. I also bought her a red silk dress with a gold sash for your after party. It's the cutest little party dress, everyone will adore her." She giggled then checked the time on her watch. "Nicky, shouldn't you be getting Libby back to her friend's house?"

"Oh yeah." Nick noticed the time, pressing a kiss to Danielle and Greg's foreheads, before he climbed to his feet to go and find Libby.

"I better change this one out of the dress before she messes it up." Jean smiled to her son, lifting her granddaughter from his arms. "So, do you like the dress and the colour theme?"

"As long as I don't have to wear anything that matches." Greg smirked, giving her a cheeky grin. "I love it, Mom. It's great, especially the cute little head band. She should wear her pigtails just like that for the wedding."

"Yeah." Jean nodded in agreement. "We could even curl her hair. How cute would that be?"

"You really wonna doll her up, doncha?" Greg giggled.

"She might get curly hair eventually, you know. Your father has curly hair when it grows out, and so do you. Danielle's perfectly straight hair might eventually curl."

"I doubt it. She gets her hair from Nick."

"Okay then, spoil sport." She waved to her son, taking her grandchild back upstairs to change her out of the bridesmaid dress.

Nick drove Libby back to her friend Casey's house, asking her to stay in the car a minute once they arrived, as he desperately wanted to ask about the bruise he had noticed from the moment he saw her. "I was... fighting with my brothers."

"Don't lie to me, Libby." He spoke softly, trying not to get mad, as she was protecting whoever did it, just like the victims he dealt with everyday. "Honey, I can't help you if you don't trust me. You've got no reason to protect anyone. Just tell me the truth."

"Nick... it's none of your business. You don't come from the same world I do, you can't..."

"Libby, that has nothin' to do with it and you know it. You're smarter than that. I wish my family were even half as close as Greg's. I never believed in unconditional love or love for that matter, until I met his family. Everybody's families are different, that doesn't change the fact that somebody hurt you and that's wrong."

"It was my Mom; she said if I told you, I wouldn't be able to see you anymore." Libby snapped, clutching her bag against her chest. "It's not like I'm not used to it, Nick. I'm not gonna turn into some ruined victim, it doesn't even hurt."

"So, why'd you hide it?" He queried, still trying to control his anger, by breathing deeply as he looked towards her.

"This is why." She pointed out to him. "I didn't want you to get mad at me. It's my first Christmas Eve with my real father, and it's ruined already."

"Whoa, whoa..." Nick gently grabbed her arm, stopping her from climbing out the car. "I'm not mad, Libby. And it's not ruined. You had fun with Greg and his Greg's parents didn't you?"

"Yeah." Libby nodded round at him, finally looking him in the eye. "It's like the best Christmas Eve ever, more like the best day of my life." She corrected herself. "I wish you and Greg were my real parents. Danielle doesn't know how lucky she is to have you two."

"She's even luckier to have a big sister like you." Nick smiled softly to her then turned back to his more serious tone, "You remember I told you about the possibility of joint custody or full custody over you?" Libby nodded her head slightly. "Well I talked to a lawyer, given the circumstances I have a good chance at winnin' full custody against your mother, only if that's what you want though. I don't want to force you into anythin', and I'd let you see her whenever you wanted."

"You'd really do that for me?"

Smiling softly, Nick smirked, "You say that as if it's a shock to you. I'm your father, Libby. You're at least fifty percent of me. That makes me responsible for you and your life. You wouldn't exist without me. I was two years older then you are now when I found out I was goin' to have a child, and it scared me to death. I was still a kid myself, I wasn't ready to look after another life that would be completely dependent on me, and I regret that every day of my life. I should have taken responsibility for my actions and helped Valerie with you, rather than sendin' her away."

"Then you wouldn't have met, Greg." Libby pointed out to him. "You wouldn't have, Danielle. You wouldn't have met and felt love from the Sanders family, and you'd probably hate me as much as my mother does." She interpreted the situation, giving him a slight smile. "I know you were just a kid, Nick and I don't blame you for that. I'd rather have you at this point in my life, rather than before. Casey's Mom Angela, says that our life experiences shape our personality... so, maybe if you had stayed with my mother, you'd be this completely different person from who you are now, and you wouldn't be the great father that you are now."

Returning her smile, Nick felt the overwhelming urge to hug her, wishing she could be in his life all the time, like Danielle and Greg. "See, I told you you're smart." He whispered, gently hugging her.

* * *

"Good Night, Honey." Jean whispered, clutching her son tightly in her arms a moment, before she pressed a kiss to his cheek and forehead. She clutched him in her bone crushing embrace a moment longer, finally releasing him before he ran out of air. "I love you."

"I love you too." Greg smiled at her then moved on to hug his father, reminding him of when he was a child and used to receive hugs and kisses from all of them, before he went off upstairs to bed. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, bud. Merry Christmas." His father whispered, securely holding his son in his protective hold. Daniel pressed a kiss to his boy's head then released him to move on and hug his grandparents. Nana Olaf was just as typical as Jean with her bone crushing hugs, only hers weren't as strong as they used to be, but she still smelt of cookies.

Papa Olaf playfully ruffled his grandson's hair, messing up the already messed spikes then pulled him into his own embrace that smelt of old soap and newspapers. "Good night, Fatty." Papa Olaf teased him, finally releasing him.

"Oh... Dad." Jean scowled across the room at him.

"What? He's my little porker." He continued to taunt, teasingly poking Greg in the tummy, before he pinched the skin of Greg's cheek, like Grandma's always do on old movies. "He's turning into the little pudgy grandson I always wanted."

"I'm not fat." Greg pouted, turning to storm away. "Good Night." He grumpily shouted from the foot of the stairs.

"You could have at least made the effort to slam the door, Gregory." Papa Olaf shouted after him. "You young people have no commitment these days. Your tantrums and strops are so weak and lazy."

"The baby's sleeping." Greg pointed out to him, childishly sticking his tongue out at him, before storming off up the stairs to his room. He wanted to wait for Nick to return home, but as soon as his drained from exhaustion body hit the mattress, he was out.

Nick returned home half an hour later, finding Jean and Daniel waiting up for him in the kitchen. They each gave him a hug and kiss good night of their own, before the three of them retired to their bedrooms, wondering if they would be able to sleep from the excitement of what tomorrow would bring.

Nick brushed his teeth and checked on Danielle in the crib across the room, before he attempted to help Greg undress, so he would be more comfortable. Greg lightly fluttered his eyes open as he felt Nick's hands on him, but he was too sleepy to assist him in anyway. "Hey, baby... let's get you ready for bed." Nick suggested, going for the rim of Greg's sweatshirt so he wouldn't get too hot, but the younger man sleepily pulled against him, giving out a groan of annoyance.

"No Nicky, too tired." He muttered, snuggling up to the pillows again.

Nick watched him sleeping a moment then grabbed the blanket from the bottom of the bed, unfolding it, then carefully lay it out over his boyfriend's body, pressing a delicate kiss to his cheek. "I love you, baby." He whispered softly then climbed onto the bed beside him, easing himself under the covers to get some sleep for himself. He couldn't believe how well the day went, and he really couldn't wait for Christmas morning so he could return his family back to their own little Christmas surprise, waiting for them in their front room.

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed the little Sanders family get together.**

**And for those of you who don't understand why Libby wouldn't just tell Nick every little detail about what happened to her and how she got the bruises, its because I prefer realisum with my characters. Most people never report sexual or physical abuse because of the shame and guilt that they feel from having the bruises, scars and so on. For some people, talking about it means it actually happened, when they were trying to block it out, making them ashamed or feel weak for letting it happen.**

**So that's why I did that, even if Nick is Libby's father by blood, she still barely knows the man, so she wouldn't go into every detail. So I hope you understand why she was refusing to tell him, and didn't tell him everything.**

**Thanks for reading! Please remember to review if you enjoyed it.**

**~Holly**


	18. Chapter 18: The Path to Now

**Chapter Eighteen: The Path to Now**

_15 years ago . . ._

"_I coulda told you that this would have been the outcome from the start." Valerie's father raged, while his wife continued to clutch a cushion close to her chest, sobbing like a baby at the news of her daughter being knocked up at seventeen. "And I guess your boyfriend wants nothin' to do with it, huh? I told you those Stokes' were bad news. You never listen to me; no one ever listens to me. It's pretty obvious from the amount of pressure they put on those kids that they're gonna act out. There's just too many kids in that family for that much pressure, nobody's perfect, and you just proved that."_

"_Don't get all self righteous on me, Dad." Valerie sobbed, placing her hands on her stomach. "This baby is mine..."_

"_It's also half there's, you stupid girl. How could you be so stupid? You've been goin' to church since before you could crawl. You know that sex before marriage is a sin, especially at your age. I bet I know what this... so called father of your child wants you to do..."_

"_It's not about him." Valerie blubbered. "This is _my _baby. I don't need him."_

"_No, it's not about him anymore, because he's just gonna move onto the next girl, just like that delinquent big brother of his. Luckily your sister's friend had the sense to do what was right, and she was twenty three when she got pregnant. You're just a child!" He shouted at her, starting to pace the room in attempt to control the anger bubbling to the surface._

"_He might change his mind once he sees the baby."_

"_Oh, c'mon Valerie, you can't honestly be that thick, can you?" Seizing his blubbering daughter by the forearms, Mr Richmond violently shook her, angrily shouting, "He's not gonna want to give up his life for some little sex accident. I know boys his age. I was his age once. They don't want to be pinned down with a wife and kid, especially with a little whore like you! Judge Stokes would never allow his precious son to sacrifice his career for this either."_

_Pulling back from the restraints of her father's hands, Valerie sniffled back her tears, looking him in the eye, "It doesn't matter, I've decided..."_

"_You've decided what? That you're gonna raise this kid? You're gonna give up your career for it? You wonna be just another pregnant teen, aspiring to become a single mother on welfare?" He asked, making her tremble from the tone of his voice. "Not in this house you're not."_

_Valerie's mother started sobbing harder, remaining seated on the sofa as she clutched the pillow even tighter._

"_I know it feels amazin' and everythin' to have this new life growin' inside of you, Valerie. But wake up! Bein' a mother is somethin' you're not ready for. Bein' a parent is hard fuckin' work, all day, every fuckin' day, and you're not ready for that. No one's gonna hand you a trophy at the end of all of this and say well done, good job, Valerie. It's just gonna be you and this baby alone, and you won't be able to handle that." Her father continued to try and reason with her. "C'mon Valerie, don't be so stupid! This thing will ruin your life. Just get the damn abortion, so you can wait for a real husband to your own real children. No man wants a woman who already has child. He'll think you're a filthy, dirty whore."_

"_I don't wonna get rid of it!" Valerie shouted for the hundredth time. "Just because you don't think I can do it..."_

_Mr Richmond laughed at the statement, "No Valerie, I **know** you can't do it. You're too selfish. Why do you think we haven't let you have any more pets? You forget to feed them; you forgot to give your dog its medication, and you never clean out their cages or anythin'. A baby is so much more work than any of that, and you're just not ready."_

"_I'm keepin' it." She insisted, wishing her mother would at least look at her. "You can't force me to get rid of it, that's murder. It's against your God, Dad!"_

"_Fine!" Furiously grabbing his daughter's arm, Mr Richmond roughly dragged his blubbering daughter towards the door, forcing her out of it once it was open. "Don't you ever come back. I never wonna hear from you again." He warned her._

_Falling to the ground in tears, as her father slammed the door shut on her, Valerie held her head in her hands, screaming in pain as she thought her parents would have been more accepting then her boyfriend, but they were all the same. No one would let her keep this baby around here, so she would have to leave to save the life of her child._

* * *

Picking herself up from the floor of the alley, Valerie wiped the cold puddle water from the side of her head, looking around disorientated. The last thing she remembered doing was drinking, drowning her sorrows at the mere thought of finally losing her child that she had worked so hard to protect, all those years ago.

"Excuse me, Ma'am." A sudden voice called down the alley towards her. Valerie shielded her eyes from the light, grimacing as the foul taste of vomit and alcohol clogged her throat. The next thing she knew, the man was tugging her to her feet, slapping handcuffs over her wrists, from behind her back.

Still disorientated, Valerie stumbled towards his squad car, suddenly feeling the urge to throw up. The officer quickly jumped back, grossed out by the drunk throwing up all over herself. He didn't want to have to be in the same car as her, but he had to take her in, whether he liked it or not.

"Miss Larson, Miss Larson... wake up, please." A very large female officer shook her awake.

Valerie lifted her head off the table, rubbing her sore wrists, from where she had been earlier restrained. Looking around the room she was in, Valerie realised that she was no longer in the car, but she was now in a police station.

The female officer suddenly grabbed for her hand, pushing her fingers into some black ink, before she pressed them against a print card, taking her fingerprints as if she was a suspect.

"Ouch." Valerie flinched, as the woman gripped her hand tighter. "I wonna call my lawyer."

"Later." The woman answered, filing her paperwork.

"I have children. I don't belong in prison." Valerie started to protest, but an officer suddenly appeared behind her, pushing her back into her seat, stopping her from standing up. "Get off me."

"Don't push me, lady." The male officer warned her. "You're spending the night here; you can go home in the morning to your, so called precious kids."

* * *

"This is your... ten week scan." Doctor Simpson calculated, setting the machine up beside the table Greg was on. "Have you had any problems so far?" Greg immediately shook his head, rolling his t-shirt up his stomach, so Doctor Simpson could do the same old usual routine, with the ultrasound machine. "Let's see how these twins are doing this month then." Doctor Simpson smiled towards Greg and his mother, then moved the device around on Greg's stomach, trying to locate each of the twins. "There's one. That's baby A."

"Ooh... wow." Jean gasped, holding her son's hand, as she looked at the monitor. "They're that big already? In the last picture they were only little blobs."

"Well, your... little blobs, now have small buds that are growing into the arms and legs. It really is amazing how much they grow, in such a short space of time." Doctor Simpson smiled at the two of them. "This one's really quiet and reserved back here." He tried to locate the smaller baby in the back, while the other baby was much easier to find as it was up front and bigger. "There's... baby B. Heart beats nice and healthy this week. Baby's A's is still a little quicker, but they're a much bigger baby, so that's normal."

"So you have one baby, Greg and one baby, Nick in there." Jean chuckled, holding her son's hand a little tighter, as she saw the look in her son's eyes. Nick had told her that Greg was really nervous about seeing the babies again today, but he couldn't make it to the appointment with him today, as he had to be in court, so Jean offered to be there to support her son instead.

"Nick isn't quiet and reserved." Greg giggled softly, shaking his head at his mother.

"He is around me." Jean pointed out to him.

"You make him nervous." Greg simply stated. Doctor Simpson chuckled softly, taking note of the babies heart beats again, before he started to measure them to check to see if they were growing at the right rate. "If the other ones smaller, that doesn't mean that they have anything like that twin transfusion syndrome or anything, does it?" Greg queried, still worrying about that, even though Nick had told him not to.

"No." His Doctor shook his head. "I see you've been doing your reading, but no."

"What's...?" Jean went to ask.

"Twin transfusion syndrome is a condition where one donor twin bleeds into the circulation of a recipient twin. The donor twin usually becomes anaemic, and loses its amniotic fluid. The smaller, donor twin is usually stuck against the uterine wall, while the larger twin is in the sac. There's nothing to worry about though, Greg." He quickly assured him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yours are fine." He nodded. "I've seen twins like this before. This one patient I treated had twins growing at different rates. After they were born though, the smaller one of the two quickly caught up to her sister and eventually out grew her. It happens with animals all the time, because they usually have more than one baby growing in their wombs. My cat gave birth to seven kittens the other year, and there was one tiny little one that was much smaller than his brothers or sisters, but he's much bigger than them all now. They're just smaller in the womb. Donor twins are usually on a single placenta too, but as you can see," He moved the device around, to take a better look. "They're growing on their own placentas. Probably fraternal twins... the result of two fertilised eggs." He finished explaining.

"That means they could be different genders." Jean pointed out to her son, giving him a wide smile, as he looked round at her.

The Doctor smiled in agreement, checking over each of the babies from their head to their feet. He monitored their heart beats again, writing down a clearer reading, before he printed them off another set pictures.

"Well, the babies look fine. Hopefully twin B will catch up with twin A. There's really nothing to worry about though, it's pretty normal with fraternal twins." He assured him. "I'd like to schedule your next appointment at fifteen weeks to keep an eye on baby B's heart, into your second trimester. You should start to feel less tired in a couple of weeks. The second trimester of twins is apparently the most relaxing, so enjoy it while it lasts."

Greg nodded to him, taking a look at the pictures of each twin. There still wasn't that much to look at, but they were starting to look like real little people.

"Okay, I've got a free opening on February the twenty fourth. Is that okay?" Doctor Simpson queried.

"Um..." Greg tried to remember when Libby's birthday was then gave the Doctor a nod as he realised her birthday was on the third of February, so Nick would definitely be free to come with him. "Yeah, that'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll see you and Nick then." He smiled, helping Greg off the table. "Call me if you have any problems, and continue taking the vitamins and things I gave you. The morning sickness has stopped now, right?"

"Yeah, I still feel really tired and nauseous around certain smells though."

"Oh I know." Jean chimed in, giggling softly as they both looked round at her. "I'm seventeen weeks." She pointed to her stomach. "Well technically, I'm seventeen weeks and two days, with just the one though." She smiled towards the Doctor, pulling her own ultrasound picture from her purse that showed more of the baby like shape.

"Oh wow. Congratulations, Mrs Sanders." Doctor Simpson smiled, taking a look at the picture for himself. "So Greg's getting a little brother or sister, before these twins pop out, huh?"

"Yep." Greg nodded.

"I've got one here of them picking their nose, and there's one of their foot." She showed him more of the pictures, making Greg roll his eyes, as she had already paparazzied her unborn baby. "Ooh, in this one you can see their profile. I think they kinda look like me, which is good because Greg looks just like his father. It'll be nice to have another that looks like me... Ooh, did I show you this one, Gregory? Their fist is open and it's look like a wave." She showed him the picture again, before she showed the Doctor. "The technician said that they were saying 'hi Mommy, can't wait to meet you'." She giggled as her son continued to roll his eyes. "Aww, you're not getting jealous already are you baby?"

"No." Greg firmly shook his head, grabbing his jacket off the chair. "Why would I be jealous? You're only showing _absolutely_ everyone we bump into, the thousands of pictures you have of your new baby."

"So, what's so wrong with that? I did the same thing with you, and those pictures of Danielle. And look; now I can show them my new grandbabies too." She giggled, taking the pictures from Greg's hands. "Thank you, Doctor."

"You're welcome." Doctor Simpson smiled, holding his office door open, so they could leave for the park across the street, where Daniel had taken his granddaughter, to kill some time.

* * *

After Valerie had managed to sober herself up the next morning, she met Nick at the court house, wearing slightly more respectable clothing, as her lawyer said she had just made her situation a whole lot worse, by being arrested. Nick and Valerie's lawyers had finally arranged for them to meet with a judge, discussing the custody over their daughter, now that they were finally in the New Year.

Libby had been living with her friend, Casey since Christmas, so Valerie was very eager to get this whole mess sorted out, and get her daughter back home with her. The only obstacle in her path this time, was Nick.

"Nick, I'm not sayin' that I'm goin' for sole custody. I said I'd go for shared custody, but you didn't have to drag me here." Valerie moaned at him, pacing the hall of the court house in her uncomfortable heels. "We could have worked this out between us, instead of makin' a big deal about it."

"I tried that, your lawyer sent me a letter of all the child support I owe you for the past fifteen years. My lawyer told me that because I didn't know you kept the kid, I don't have to pay for the last fifteen years. If you do that, I won't have enough money for my own family. And my kids are younger than yours, they need more." He argued right back at her, watching her grumpily folding her arms across her chest. "I'm doin' what's best for Libby and my family, you're doin' what's best for yourself. Libby doesn't need all that money; you just want it for yourself."

"No, I'm goin' to use it to support my family." She continued to bicker with him, knowing full well where the money would go, due to her more recent addictions that she couldn't shake.

"Exactly!" Nick shouted at her, hearing the man across the hall clearing his throat, as they were being too noisy outside of the offices. Softening up his tone, Nick explained, "I only have one child in that household of yours. I have a three year old and two new babies to think about at my house, as well as my teenage daughter. Libby told me that Ruby moved out, so you must be more desperate than ever for cash. As I understand it, you already get child support for Garrett and Emmett, and you're tryin' to bully Cameron's father into it too."

"He refuses to admit the kid is his." Valerie scowled at him, dropping into one of the seats that lined the hall. "Why is it always the mother that gets the sour end of the stick?"

"They're my children!" A man's voice suddenly shouted from down the hall. Nick and Valerie turned their attention towards the chunky little man, watching him adjusting his hair piece, before he screamed, "Damn you!" at the man in long black robes, before he turned to storm away.

A few seconds later a chunky little woman with two round faced little children came out of the room, with a very old fashioned lawyer in tow, wearing a plaid suit. "Thank you, your honour." The woman shook the robed man's hand then ushered her children off down the hall, giving them chocolaty snacks from her large purse, as they had been on her best behaviour like she asked.

"The mother didn't appear to get the sour end of the stick there." Nick pointed out to her.

"Oh shut the fuck up, Nick." Valerie rolled her eyes at the woman walking by, wishing she could have a cigarette, but there were signs against it all around the room, only making her cravings even more painful. "I've never been in a court room before, what will they ask us?" Valerie suddenly asked Nick.

"It's not a court room. We're meetin' with a judge. She's already spoken to our lawyers; she just wants to talk to us about this whole situation, before she decides if it needs a hearin' trial or somethin'." He shrugged, not up to speed on custody cases, as he usually dealt with a jury convicting a murderer.

"Why couldn't we do this between us?"

"I tried, you didn't want to." Nick reminded her, rolling his eyes, as she childishly scowled at him.

"Since when did you get so stuffy? You used to hate all these stupid rules and crap like that."

"They protect people, like me." He pointed out to her. "You're plannin' on takin' fifteen years of child support from me, leavin' me with nothin' to support my own family. This whole thing coulda been resolved if you just let me pay you a small amount every couple of months for Libby, and let me see her, but you decided to withhold the visits, until I pay you the full amount. And Libby even decided to leave you..."

"That's none of your business!" She barked at him.

"It is my business. She's my daughter. Libby's not gonna be a kid much longer, you can't hold onto her forever, and trust me, she's gonna leave you. She already has."

"For god's sake, she just wanted to spend some time with her friend. She didn't leave me. You can't force her to do anythin', and you can't force her to love you."

"I'm not forcin' her to do anythin'." Nick rolled his eyes at her, for the hundredth time, wondering how he could have ever liked this woman, let alone slept with her. "I talked this all through with Libby, first. She just needs a good strong influence, especially at this point in her life. She's going through the last few years of Highschool. Do you want her to end up like you?"

"Shut up, you self righteous prick. I'm so sick of people tellin' me what to do. I followed God's stupid rules of not murderin' my children, makin' everyone hate me for tryin' to protect their precious lives." She childishly folded her arms across her chest, avoiding eye contact with him, while they waited for their turn to speak to one of the Judges.

"You can't honestly be happy with your life, Valerie or you wouldn't be doin' all these drugs and the drinkin'. Parents are supposed to want the best for their children. My father tried to make us into carbon copies of himself, but I want my kids to be different. I want them to find out what they like and what they wonna do for themselves. Do you want Libby to become you?"

"You think I don't care about my children? Is that what you're sayin'?"

"If they're really that precious to you, then you wouldn't hit em." Nick remarked, taking a seat beside her.

"Is that what Libby told you, that I hit her? Why would I do that?"

"You tell me. When we were kids, you always said you'd be different with your kids. You said you wouldn't treat them how your father treated you, but you're exactly the same."

"You don't know anythin' about me, Nick. So just keep your nose out of it." She hissed at him.

"I can't, because it's my child that you're hittin', and I'm scared for the other three. If I had taken you to social services they'd take all of your children away from you, no questions asked. But Libby asked me not to do that, because you're apparently not as bad with the younger ones."

Valerie rolled her eyes at him then turned her head towards the office down the hall that just opened up. Five people stepped out of the room, two of them yelling at one another at the top of their lungs. "This is ridiculous!" The small little man shouted, his sunburnt lawyer trying to calm him down, but he continued to rage, "I haven't seen my kids for three Christmases! You never let them visit for thanksgiving. And I haven't seen them for a single birthday."

"That's because the last time you had them, Sandy broke both her legs!" The wife argued, snatching her purse from her own lawyer's hands, before she stormed off down the hall. Her short little husband shouted something down the hall after her then turned in the opposite direction, pushing his lawyer aside, as he continued to try and reason with him.

Nick and Valerie watched them both leaving in silence, realising that they were no better than that divorced couple, fighting over the custody of their children.

"Tell me that you honestly never lose your temper with your own child." Valerie suddenly spoke up, continuing where they left off.

"Yeah, sometimes I do." He admitted. "But I don't hit her. She's only three, she doesn't understand and I don't wonna teach her how to love through hittin'. Everythin' you do... everythin' you say has an impact on a child. Even if she does get on my nerves, I would never raise my hand to her. Just like I wouldn't with Greg or someone I work with. There's no need to hit anybody."

"My father used to beat the crap out of me. I'm nothin' like him. Hittin' and beatin' are two different things, Nick." She pointed out to him. "Hittin' is one little slap for bad behaviour. Kids learn that if they get a slap for doin' somethin' then that was obviously wrong, and they shouldn't do it again. Beatin' is just plain stupid. I never beat my kids. That's for those parents that hate their kids or their life and they just take their anger out on their kids, like my father used to. He used to break my arms, bruise my ribs and cause me to piss blood; I would never do that to my children. I give them one little slap, or in Libby's case she got a punch. But you should have heard the things she was sayin' to me." She defended herself. "I'm not excusin' myself for punchin' her, I'm just sayin'..."

"I know what you're sayin'." Nick interrupted her. "But you shouldn't feel the _need_ to hit a child for anythin'. Kids look to their parents how to behave and for protection from the real world. They look to us for the unconditional love they deserve and are never gonna feel with anyone else again. Do you really want your boys to grow up, thinkin' that it's okay to hit people?"

"No." Rummaging through her purse for some chewing gum to satisfy her growing cravings, Valerie popped one into her mouth then turned to look at Nick, as she finally got what he was saying, "Are you sayin' my kids are gonna become child abusers and wife beaters? Well look at yours, you arrogant bastard. Your disgustin' little queer spawn..."

"Don't do that again." He interrupted her, before she had a chance to say another hurtful thing about his daughter. "I'm sick of you bringin' up the gay thing every time we fight. Havin' gay parents doesn't define a child, just like havin' straight parents or different race parents doesn't. Danielle is so much more then the kid with gay parents. Just like a coloured man is more than his skin and a woman with crazy red hair is more than just her hair. It doesn't define people."

"Whatever." She muttered her reply, avoiding eye contact with him again.

Nick and Valerie sat in silence for the longest moment, staring at the wall ahead of them, before Valerie turned her head to look round at Nick again, taking note of his few facial features that hadn't changed since they were seventeen.

"You realise that all of this is your fault, Nick. I wanted to wait until prom..."

"You coulda said no." Nick interrupted her. "And it takes two to..."

"God I know that." She rolled her eyes at him then suddenly chuckled softly to herself at the memory, "No wonder you were so scared to take my bra off back then, you were gay. Did you always know?" She suddenly queried. "Was I your beard or somethin' to throw your family off the scent of a queer son?"

"No." He shook his head. "I didn't know then. Not till Greg did I really feel it. I never knew what I liked growin' up."

"No wonder you were so much nicer than all the other guys." Popping some more chewing gum into her mouth, Valerie asked, "You didn't sleep with any guys before me did you?" Nick shook his head. "Good. That's a relief."

"Why?"

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist again, faggot." She spat at him, hearing the man across the hall clearing his throat again. Valerie just glared at him then continued where she left off, "Knowin' that your ex-boyfriend would rather kiss or give head to another guy, isn't exactly a turn on. It's gross."

"What about you, you were with Ruby." He pointed out to her.

"Yeah, but I'm not gay. She was... kinda like a best friend with benefits, but we never did it just the two of us, there was always a guy if we were ever together. That's why she left. I couldn't love her the way she wanted me to. I'm not a dyke."

"Mr Stokes... Miss Larson." Someone finally called their names, ushering them towards one of the open offices. Valerie and Nick quickly climbed to their feet, making their way into the open office.

"Mr Stokes." The judge reached out for his hand first. She wasn't at all what Nick was expecting. She looked to be in her late forties, with a few strands of thinning grey hair mixed in with the shoulder length brunette hair framing her face. She appeared to be quite a chubby woman, but that could have been from the long black robes she was wearing. The judge smiled at him from behind the black framed glasses on her face then turned towards Valerie. "And Miss Larson, I presume." She shook Valerie's hand then indicated towards the empty seats in front of their desk, so they could sit down. "I'm Judge Miles; I've been handling your custody case over Elizabeth Richmond..."

"Larson." Valerie corrected her. "Libby has no association with that family, whatsoever." Judge Miles looked between the two of them confused. "I changed my name after I was kicked out of my house, okay? My daughter's name is Larson, the same as me."

"Okay." Judge Miles nodded.

"First of all, your honour, can I just say that's he's a complete stranger to my daughter." Valerie spoke up, pointing to Nick beside her. "I'm not goin' to let a complete stranger have full custody of my daughter, and you shouldn't either."

"I'm only a stranger because I didn't even know she was alive." Nick defended himself then leant forwards in his chair to talk to the judge. "I'm not askin' for full custody, I'd settle for joint custody. I just want to do what's right for my daughter."

"Excuse me, your honour, but I know, Nick. He just wants the chance to play Daddy, but he'll eventually get tired on move on..."

"You haven't known me for the past fifteen years. I was just a kid when you knew me, and you didn't even know me that well. Five months. That's how long I knew you for, before we..."

"Thank you, Mr Stokes." Judge Miles cut him off.

"See, he's completely incompetent." Valerie rolled her eyes. "You think I want an influence like that around my daughter?"

"As opposed to you strippin' on tables, the alcohol, the drugs and the men." Nick argued, realising that what his lawyer said about the way Valerie would try and play it, was exactly right. She was going to make him out to be the bad guy, her the victim and any judge with a bleeding heart would lap it up.

"Were you two... ever married?" Judge Miles queried, as the couple in front of her sounded as though they were a divorced couple.

"No." They both immediately answered, watching her nodding, before she looked down at the open file on her desk.

"I've asked you both to come here today, without your lawyers, because I'm hoping to resolve this quickly without... acrimony." Judge Miles cast her eyes between the two of them, watching them hanging their heads in shame. "So, let me get this straight... you're each seeking custody...?"

"I don't want him to have custody." Valerie interrupted the judge again.

"Miss Larson, please don't interrupt me." The judge scolded her, then continued with what she was saying, "There are usually two options in a case like this. Either I give one parent custody over the school year and the other custody over vacations. Or I can give one parent the first six months of the year, while the other has the last six months of the year..."

"But... I'd never get to see her." Valerie complained, dabbing her eyes, as she was trying to bring on the water works, to make her case a little more convincing. "There's got to be a better system than that. I don't want her away from me for that long."

"You left her home alone all through the Christmas holidays, that's why she went to Casey's." Nick decided to remind her, watching the judge looking towards Valerie wide eyed.

"I was working, okay?" Valerie hissed.

"Well, there are other options, but they're usually more stressful on the child. You both live in the same sort of area, so she wouldn't have to change schools, but I have granted custody for some parents alternate months or alternate weeks. I don't recommend it though. Children hate moving from house to house every other week. My nephew's children for example, they're always losing homework and things round the other parent's house. But I'd rather split custody between you, rather than giving one of you sole custody." She advised, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, as she waited to hear their answers.

"Libby means the world to me." Valerie insisted. "Surely you understand that. Do you have children of your own?" The judge gave her a slight nod. "Then you must understand what it's like to be a mother. She's my daughter and she means the world to me." She continued, not noticing Nick frowning at her for her pathetic attempt at getting sympathy with their female judge. "I can't let her be away from me for six months... or all of her holidays. That's not fair. I'm her mother. I've had her for fifteen years. I can't just give her over to the man who shot his wad inside of me fifteen years ago."

Nick rolled his eyes at her, unable to believe she really just said that to a judge.

"Believe me; I understand that, Miss Larson." Judge Miles nodded to her, clasping her hands together on her desk. "But it's in my best interest to do what's best for the child in question. If neither of you can decide on the joint custody agreement, then I suggest we go for what Libby suggested."

"Huh?" Valerie looked at her confused.

"I've spoken with your daughter Libby, and she didn't want sole custody for either of you. She was quite clear with what she wanted." Judge Miles explained.

"What did she want?" Valerie dabbed the tears on her cheeks, waiting to hear the judge's answer.

"Libby wants to live with her father," Judge Miles started, casting her eyes towards Valerie, as she started to cry again. "She requested to spend no more than one weekend per month with her mother, so she could still see her younger brothers, but quite frankly... I'm concerned..."

"One weekend per month!" Valerie hissed, quickly stopping her snivelling. "That isn't fair. You _should_ be concerned. I'm her mother! One weekend per month is just ridiculous! What's that like... ten or so days a year?" She calculated off the top of her head.

"Twenty four." Nick corrected her.

"When does the weekend start?" Valerie asked, turning back towards the judge, once Nick had humiliated her for her poor math skills.

"Well, Mr Stokes would drop her off round your house on the Friday evening of the chosen weekend in that month. You'll have her for the Friday night, all of Saturday and Sunday then you'll be responsible for her to get to school on the following Monday morning then she'd return home to her father after school." Judge Miles explained, trying to reason with Valerie, "That was Libby's request, and I think that works out nicely. As you've said Miss Larson, you've had Libby for the first fifteen years of her life . . . she would like the chance to get to know her father, just like most children who have been without one would."

Clutching her purse in her hands, Valerie hissed, "You're really sidin' with him?"

"Yes, Miss Larson. I would prefer to do it this way, rather than to strip you of custody completely. Your daughter has told me about your lifestyle, and quite frankly, I think that's a very dangerous environment for a young girl to be in. I'm looking into the custody agreements you have with the fathers of your other children..."

"They're none of your business. And he's gay!" Valerie shouted, pointing towards Nick. "How is my environment, more dangerous than that?"

"Miss Larson, Mr Stokes' sexual orientation has nothing to do with this case..."

"No, but my sex life does? How is that fair? Since when do we give these queers special treatment?" Valerie started to rant, only making the judge even more impatient with her.

"Miss Larson, with all due respect... Mr Stokes is in a relationship, a loyal one from what I'm told. You however are not, and the men you bring round your house..."

"So now I'm bein' punished because I'm single? Because I have a healthy sex life? How do I even know that this is what Libby wants? She's never spoken to me about this one weekend a month. And it's not fair. He gets her for what... like three hundred or so days and I only get her for thirty six?"

"Twenty four." Judge Miles corrected her again, watching as Valerie climbed to her feet in her hissy fit. "Quite frankly Miss Larson, I'm giving you the easy option. The fact that you were arrested last night, really troubles me." Nick looked round at her wide eyed, wondering what she was arrested for. "I'm looking into the custody of your other children, and if you don't seek help for your behaviour..."

"My behaviour?" Valerie shrieked.

"Yes, Miss Larson. You've been arrested for the endangerment of a child, and..."

"When?" Valerie interrupted her again, looking at her confused.

"Miss Larson, you're four months pregnant. I have the copy of the police report here."

Valerie dropped her jaw, looking at her completely baffled, as if she was speaking to her in another language. "I'm _not_ pregnant!"

"Yes Miss Larson, you are. I've got a record of your alcohol levels and the drugs in your system. Social services will be looking into the welfare of your other children and this baby, I'm only granting you the temporary once a month weekend custody of Libby, as she's old enough to look after herself, and she will get to pick the weekend she wants, _if_ she even wants to visit you that is, Miss Larson. If I hear any other complaints though, you will be stripped of any custody agreement for _all_ of your children."

"That isn't fair. I get social services investigating me, and he gets my daughter? She's mine. Why do I only get to see my daughter one weekend a month on the condition that I behave?"

"Roughly speaking, Miss Larson... you've already had custody of your daughter for just over five thousand, four hundred days, and you haven't been doing a very good job of it. Mr Stokes will have joint custody with you, until Libby leaves for college, only giving him, something like one thousand..."

"God is everyone in this room mathematicians?" Valerie remarked. "This isn't fair!"

"I believe it's more than fair, Miss Larson. And I'm ruling in favour of Libby's decision, unless you have anything else to add, Mr Stokes?" Judge Miles queried, looking towards him.

Nick shook his head slightly, trying to suppress the smile ready to escape from his lips, as he was only expecting to gain custody of Libby for a couple of weekends a year.

"Alright then, that's that sorted out. Libby has informed me that she is no longer staying with you, Miss Larson; she's been staying with a friend, since Christmas?" Valerie nodded. "I'd be happy to leave her there, until you have everything set up for her, Mr Stokes. And Miss Larson, I will be in touch with your lawyer and the other fathers of your children. Your other children will be placed in temporary foster care homes, pending..."

"No, you can't do that." Valerie shrieked, feeling as though everyone was against her.

"I'm afraid I can, Miss Larson. It's in my best interest to do what's best for the children. Your lawyer told me you were seeking twelve step programs for your addictions. Your children won't be returned to you, until I see some improvement. If not, then they'll be placed with their fathers or more permanent foster homes. Dismissed." She ended the meeting, shaking each of their hands, before she ushered them out of the room.

* * *

Dropping heavily to the edge of his bed, Nick kicked his boots off then felt the mattress move as his partner crawled across the bed, wrapping his arms around his shoulders from behind him. "Rough day, baby?" The younger man whispered against his neck, smoothing his warm hands down the front of Nick's chest. "You wonna talk about it?"

"No, not really." Nick leant back against him, glad he finally had a partner to hold and comfort him, just like other couples had been doing around him for years. "I could tell you over one of your relaxing shoulder massages though." He smiled round at him, closing his eyes as Greg pressed a loving kiss to his lips.

Pulling back from his partner's lips, Greg placed his hands on Nick's shoulders, gently kneading his fingers into his tight muscles. He continued the gentle massaging motion for a few more minutes, relaxing his partner, before he finally asked, "So, how did it go today?"

"She hit my car." Nick instantly stated. "The judge ruled in my favour, and that bitch hit my car. There's this whole scrape down the side in that tacky red colour from her car."

"No wonder you're so tense." Greg reached round for the front of Nick's shirt, popping open all of the buttons to the bottom, before he swept the material off his shoulders and dropped it onto the floor. He slowly started to massage the bare skin of his fiancé's shoulders, feeling all the knots under his hands. "So, the judge ruled in your favour... does that mean she's gonna come live here?"

"Yeah, only if you want her to or if she wants to. Valerie was really pissed about that. Libby made up this arrangement. She wants to live with me permanently, with one weekend a month to visit her mother and younger brothers. The judge ruled in my favour, because Libby has already had a mother for the first fifteen years and she believes she needs a father."

"I think she's right." Greg agreed, kneading his thumbs in between Nick's shoulder blades.

"The judge put her other children in temporary foster care, pendin' a visit from social services too. Valerie was arrested for drunk and disorderly, and apparently... she's pregnant again. Four months, although she doesn't look it. The fetus is probably so screwed up from everythin' she takes, that it's not growin' right."

"Whoa, who's the father?"

"She looked as surprised as everyone else." Nick smirked. "I don't think she even knew. I'm guessin' her baby is due in July. Hopefully they won't let her keep it."

"If it survives." Greg pointed out to him. "And I'd love to have Libby here. Space is gonna be an issue once we get the twins though. We can't put her in with Danielle, that wouldn't be fair on her. That new house idea is looking pretty good now, right?" He smirked.

"We could you know," Turning his head to look round at Greg, Nick suggested, "We might have enough to buy a new place. We'll have to look around, see what we can afford. If we sell this place we can get some money back. We fixed it up real good. This house needed a lot of work when we first got it, but now it has the new kitchen, the fully equip bathroom and the big wardrobe I made." He pointed to it. "The floors are all done and everythin', we've improved the property, we must be able to get somethin' off it."

"With two babies on the way, I don't think we can afford that much right now." Greg pointed out to him. "That plus the stress of moving. It's not such a good idea for us right now. And I like it here." Greg looked around the room, thinking of everything he'd miss if they left. "This is my first real house with someone I love. I've only ever lived in apartments and studio flats before this. This is Danielle's first house too. It's the house we raised our first child in, learned to live together and became a real family."

"Okay." Nick sighed softly, trying to figure out what else they could do. "We could... look into an extension then. The gardens pretty big, we could just build on an extra room . . . or the twins could sleep in here with us . . . or in Danielle's room, until Libby leaves for college."

"Do you wonna move?" Greg queried, snaking his arms around his neck. He pressed his head against the side of Nick's listening to his soft breathing. "We don't have to stay here if you don't want to, baby. You don't have to do _everything_ how I want it done."

"Yes I do, because you really _are_ my world." Nick lovingly smiled, placing his hands over Greg's forearms on his chest. "I would really miss this place too, G. I never thought we could get this attached to a house, especially one that was only meant to be a temporary kinda house for our first baby."

"Well we did, especially because you turned it into the family home it is today." Greg whispered against his neck. "If things start to get cramped around here, we can move. I just... don't think now's the best time."

"I know." Nick agreed. "So did you wonna go shoppin', maybe tomorrow or the weekend for some things for Libby's room? We can get that bed you wanted to buy for Danielle too; it'll be cheaper now that the Christmas madness is over. I guess Libby would need a bed, a dresser, maybe a desk and things. What else do teenage girl's need?"

"Their father's to breathe?" Greg giggled, touching his lips to his cheek. "I'm pretty sure Libby would tell you if she wanted something." He assured him, returning to massaging his shoulders for him. "Hey, aren't you forgetting something mister." Nick pinched his eyebrows together then shook his head, as he didn't think he had forgotten anything. "My ten week scan, hello." He smirked.

"Oh, shit... I completely forgot about that." Feeling guilty for leaving his partner to go alone, Nick whirled around to face him, giving him his full attention, "How did it go? Are the babies okay? Did he say anythin' else about the smaller twin?"

"Slow down." Greg giggled softly then crawled across the bed, grabbing the pictures from his bed side table. Nick crawled across the bed after him, taking a seat against the headboard to take a look. Greg relaxed back against his side, holding up the latest pictures of their twins growing bodies. "I love this one." Greg held one of them up. "They look like little gummy bears. You know from their short little arms and legs, kinda like a gummy bear." Nick chuckled softly, putting his arm around Greg's shoulders, as they really did look like little gummy bears. "My Mom recons this one is gonna be like you, because he's quiet and reserved in the back."

"I'm not quiet and reserved. Am I?"

"I don't think you are." Greg shook his head, lifting his leg over Nick's as he snuggled closer against him. "Look at the tiny little hands. When we were watching them on the monitor, this one kept opening and closing his hands. And when Doctor Simpson pressed the... you know... the ultrasound thingy against em, this one kept trying to kick it."

Nick smiled at him, wishing he was there even more. "I'm sorry I missed it baby."

"He wants me to go back at fifteen weeks; you can come with me then."

"Why do you have to go back so soon?" Nick asked him, through an anxious tone. "There's nothin' wrong is there? You'd tell me if there was..."

"No, he just... he wants to keep an eye on this one's heart beat." He pointed to Baby B, which was a lot smaller than the other one they were just looking at. "It's a little slower than the other one, but he said it's nothing to worry about. He just wants to monitor it to make sure that the rest of their organs and things are catching up, and make sure he's growing right."

"What can they do if they don't catch up?"

Greg gave him a shrug. "I forgot to ask. I was just so happy to see their hearts beating and their little arms moving."

"They're amazin'." Nick whispered, resting the side of his head against Greg's, as he looked back through the pictures in his hands. "You know, I'm kinda hopin' we get one of each. I've only ever known twins of the same sex; I've never met twins of the opposite."

"They are fraternal, so it's possible."

Finally setting the pictures down, Nick turned his body to face Greg's, covering his mouth with his own for a quick, romantic kiss. "I love you so much, Greg." He rasped, moving to kiss his neck as he smoothed his hands down the sides of his partner's warm body, towards his stomach. "For some reason, this pregnancy seems more excitin' then... Danielle's." He was about to say the last one, but he didn't want to upset Greg by thinking of the baby they lost at nine weeks.

"Maybe because it's not just one this time... its two." Greg smiled up at him. "Instead of bringing just one little life into this family, we're bringing two, making it double the excitement." Brushing his fingers through Nick's hair, Greg whispered, "You know, after this week, they're actually called Fetuses, instead of embryos. One step closer to being babies." Greg smirked, reaching for the pictures off the bed, so they wouldn't get creased.

"I know, I can't wait."

Greg set the baby pictures on his bed side table, then looked up into his partner's eyes again, admiring the loving look in them. "What?"

"Nothin'," Shaking his head through a wide smile, Nick whispered, "I was just tryin' to think of a way to thank you. You've given me everythin' I ever wanted. I can't believe I almost threw it all away for a woman who would never..."

"Hey, it's okay." Greg interrupted him, placing his hands on Nick's thighs either side of his body. "You don't have to thank me, Nicky. You don't owe me anything; you've given me everything I've ever wanted too. Without you, none of this would have happened. I wouldn't have my daughter Danielle, and I wouldn't have these two other miracles that you've given me."

"I wouldn't want to change a moment of it. Marryin' Tanya was the best mistake of my life, because it set me on the right path to be with you and have Danielle, and these two beautiful babies growin' in here." Tugging the younger man's t-shirt up his stomach, Nick gently smoothed his hand across the soft skin, feeling a slight bump. It was too early to feel the babies, but he could feel Greg's uterus where they would be growing for the next eight months, only making him even more excited.

* * *

**Thanks so much to my beta Alisa. I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter, and like where the story is going. I hope the rest of you enjoyed it too.**

**Please tell me what you think and whether you liked it or not!**

**Thanks so much for reading!**

**Have a great weekend guys!**

**~ Holly**


	19. Chapter 19: Past is Behind us

**Thanks to Alisa my beta for your help on this chapter, even though you're not feeling well. I hope you get better soon, and I owe you one girl! :D**

* * *

**Chapter Nineteen: Past Is Behind Us**

Gingerly stretching his sore legs out, Greg shivered as he felt a cold tingle rushing down his spine, into his legs. He had been skating for just over an hour and a half now, making him feel weak, as he was completely exhausted already, while everyone else, even people older than him were still skating.

"Hey, Greg. You okay?" Libby called out to him, grabbing the railing around the ice rink to steady herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He assured her, even though his legs were aching. "You go, don't worry about me. I'm just gonna sit down for a few minutes."

Libby gave him a smile then joined the rest of the skaters, adjusting the zipper of her sweatshirt, as she started to feel the cold getting to her.

For Libby's sixteenth birthday, Nick offered to take her anywhere she wanted, as he wanted to make it memorable for her. They started off at the movies with Libby and her friend Casey, watching the new movie 'Along Came Polly', starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller. After the movie, they took them off to the ice skating rink, as Libby had told Nick that she hadn't been ice skating since she was a child, and he wanted to give her a special day.

Nick and Greg decided to leave Danielle with Greg's parents, Jean and Daniel for the evening, giving them time alone to get to know Libby and her friend Casey more. Now that the papers were finalized over the custody agreement and her new room was ready and waiting for her at Nick and Greg's house, Libby was finally going to be moving in at the end of next week and become a more permanent part of their family.

Lifting his head slightly, Greg watched his boyfriend skating very slowly around the ice, with an anxious expression on his face. It wasn't until they were all actually in ice skates that he decided to reveal that he didn't know how to ice skate. So, just like Nick did with the bowling, Libby decided to teach her father how to ice skate.

After the first half hour though, he spent more time on his butt then he did on his feet. He soon started to get the hang of it, managing to actually do a full circle of the rink, very shakily, but his arse was still throbbing, so he moved his legs the slightest amount while skating round, avoiding any strain to that area.

"Hey, are you okay?" Climbing over his boyfriend's outstretched legs, Nick plopped himself onto the bench beside him, touching a kiss to his cheek. "What's wrong? Is it your tummy..."

"My legs." Greg corrected him, watching Libby and Casey attempting to do spins together on the ice, but they almost ended up pulling one another to the icy surface. "Where to after this?" He queried.

"Home. Angela Spacey is cookin' up a birthday dinner for Libby. Some more of her friends are gonna be over there. Angela bought her a cake and things, for just Libby and her friends. It's gonna be kinda girly, so you and I can go home and get some sleep."

"You mean so _you_ can rest?" Greg giggled, playfully poking him in the side. "How's that back side doing now, Nicky? You've spent more time on it then you have on yah feet."

"Painfully numb." Nick answered, untying the laces of Greg's skates for him. "My backs the worst. I think I'll really feel it later though." After removing Greg's skates for him, Nick asked, "Are you okay? You've been quiet all day."

Greg nodded head slightly, turning to look Nick in the eye. "You know it's exactly one year since Catherine's ex-husband died." Greg reminded him, as he had been thinking about it all day. "Even though I didn't know her husband, Lindsey's still just a kid and she lost her father."

"Hun, maybe..."

"Don't you dare say it again, Nick." Greg interrupted him, rolling his eyes at him. "I'm not depressed. It's just exactly a year and it made me think of it. You're spending time with your daughter and it made me think of Lindsey not having a father, okay? It doesn't make me depressed."

"I was just sayin'. A lot of people experience depression in their pregnancies, its nothin' to be ashamed of." Nick spoke softly, removing his own skates. "Considerin' everythin' you've been dealin' with lately, it's only natural to feel a little down durin' your pregnancy. If you don't wonna talk to me about it, there's also therapy. You haven't been for a while, and it was helpin' before, right? Havin' someone to talk to?"

"I guess," Greg shrugged, pulling his sneakers on. "But Nick, why do you always have to bring this up when we're away from the house?" Greg hissed at him. "I'm not depressed; I don't know how many more times I can say it to you."

Watching his partner angrily climbing to his feet, Nick decided to keep his mouth shut as Greg stormed past him, making his way off towards the little coffee shop's counter to get himself a hot chocolate.

Greg took a seat in one of the empty booths, holding the hot cup of cocoa between his hands, as he watched Libby and Casey continuing to skate around together, while his fiancé sat on the side lines with his head in his hands. He instantly felt guilty for snapping at him again, wishing he could just get his head sorted out, so he could stop arguing with Nick.

Once they were finally done ice skating, Nick drove Casey and Libby back over to her house then stopped by the Sanders house to collect their daughter. The three of them retreated home to the comfort of their sofa, spending a lazy evening in front of the TV together.

"I better get this one to bed." Greg suddenly announced, lifting Danielle into his arms from the cushions between them.

"Are you still mad at me because of what I said?" Nick queried, unable to sit up straight as the muscles in his back were really starting to cause him some discomfort now, making it harder to move.

"Nope." Greg responded, stepping over the haphazardly placed toys across the front room floor, making his way off towards the bedroom with his three year old in his arms. Nick could tell by the younger man's tone of voice that he _was_ still clearly angry with him, and knowing Greg, he probably wouldn't be the first to make amends.

After changing Danielle into her pyjamas, Greg placed her down in her brand new antique child's sized bed, complete with padded bed guards on one side, while the other was against the wall, stopping her from falling out of bed. Greg still thought she looked too small to be in such a big bed, but it was actually a lot easier to get her in and out of this bed, rather than the crib that she used to be confined to during the night.

This way, Danielle could even climb in and out of her own bed during the night, which was especially handy now that they were potty training her.

Nick held his back in agony, watching through the open bedroom door as his fiancé read Danielle her usual bed time story. Danielle followed the words with her finger, pointing to the pictures of the farm animals on each page, sweetly giggling as Greg made the sound effects of each animal.

"Again!" Danielle declared, as Greg closed the book at the end of it.

"Oh, well Daddy would love to, but he kinda hurt his throat doing the horsey noises, so he has to go get some water. And you have to go to bed, missy." Greg gently tickled her then climbed off her bed to tuck her in. "Goodnight, Munchkin." He whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite." He gently tickled her, making her giggle again. "I love you."

"I wuv you." She repeated, giving him a wide cheeky smile, as he kissed her forehead again.

Greg returned her smile then grabbed her dirty clothes off the floor, waving goodbye to her as he slowly made his way out of the room. "Hey, you wonna say goodnight to her?" Greg asked his fiancé, standing in the shadows of the hallway.

"Yeah."

Greg left the door open for Nick, dumping Danielle's clothes into the laundry hamper, before he made his way off towards the kitchen, clearing away the things from dinner. Feeling a warm pair of arms suddenly wrapping themselves around his waist, Greg closed his eyes, leaning back against the firm chest of his lover.

"C'mon," Without saying another word, Nick led Greg off towards their bedroom, helping him to get ready for bed, so he could spoon him tightly beneath the warm covers, eventually dozing off to sleep together.

* * *

It had finally arrived, the day that Libby was finally moving in. Nick anxiously sorted through the things in the spare room that would now be Libby's room, feeling the muscles in his lower back beginning to seize up again. Having been in pain since the ice skating last week, Nick really didn't think before he started lifting furniture on his own, trying to get the room set up to his daughter's liking, only making his back even worse.

After several hours of debating which corner of the room the desk looked best in, Nick finally moved it back to its original spot by the window. He had spent the whole night of his shift, processing the apartment of a man whose brains were blown out. Unfortunately for him, the brains happened to be scattered across the floor, wall and ceiling, putting even more strain on his back. Then after returning home from the very painful shift, Nick decided to rearrange Libby's bedroom, before she finally moved in later today, without any sleep, as Greg wasn't home.

Nick turned to look back at the rest of the room, placing his hands on his lower back, as he judged whether or not he should move the bed and the bedside table a little closer to the wall, so there wasn't just a big empty wall over that side of the room.

"Nicky!" Greg's voice suddenly shouted through the house. He set down the keys and his daughter, closed the front door then hurried off towards the empty bedroom, looking around at the moved furniture. "Nick, what are you still doing here? You were supposed to pick up Danielle from day care then Libby from her house. I told you I was going to the birthing class with my mother today, so I needed you to collect Danielle, but they called me because you weren't answering your cell..."

"I'm sorry, I... totally forgot." Nick anxiously bit his lower lip, raking his fingers through his mess of hair.

"You think _I'm_ the one with the problem and _you_ forget about _both_ of your daughters for a whole day?" Greg snapped at him. "What are you even doing? You shouldn't be moving furniture with bad back, dummy. Do you wonna hurt yourself even more?"

"I'm sorry, okay? It just... wasn't right. It has to be perfect for her. She's comin' to live here . . . with me . . . with us, for the first time."

"Life isn't perfect Nick, but somehow we all manage to at least change our clothes from our last shift," He pointed to the blood stain, _still_ on Nick's shirt from his previous shift. "Or at least remember that we're supposed to pick up our daughters. I guess I'm gonna have to go and get Libby then, huh? She's not even moved in yet and you're already letting her down."

"Would you stop shoutin' at me for five freakin' minutes? I fucked up, okay? I'm not perfect. I know nothin's perfect, Greg. I'm doin' the best I can. But... I don't know if I can do it."

"Are you kidding me? You wanted to get her out of that house, so you got her out of the house and now you're having second thoughts? Did you even sleep?" Greg suddenly asked, looking at Nick concerned. "What the hell, Nick? You can't work two shifts then do all this without sleeping. No wonder you're stressing out. I'm glad you didn't go and pick them up, you'd have ended up totalling your car and hurting someone."

"There's nothin' wrong with me, just get off my back. I don't need a second mother." Nick lightly pushed Greg out of the way, storming off towards the bathroom to splash his face with some cold water.

"What the hell is going on with you?" Greg followed him off towards the bathroom, watching Nick's shaky hands wiping the dripping water from his face. "What's wrong? I know it's not that time of the month, because you're the wrong gender, so what the hell's going on? Are you on something?"

"No." Nick hissed, grabbing a towel. "Why would you even ask me that? I'm not like you."

"Thanks a lot." Greg scowled in his direction, folding his arms across his chest. "Then what the hell's going on with you?" He asked again, but Nick remained silent in his own little world. "Are you freaking out or something?"

"Just leave me alone."

Taking a few steps closer towards Nick, Greg could hear his breath wheezing from his chest and see his hands shaking even more. "Here, sit down." Greg directed him over to the bath tub, sitting him down on the rim, ignoring his protests to leave him alone. "Put your head between your knees." He instructed.

Nick did as instructed, breathing heavily through the pain vibrating through his body.

Greg knelt down in front of him, gently stoking his fingers through his hair in an attempt to comfort him, after being washed over with a feeling of guilty, as he had just shouted at his lover while he was probably having a panic attack.

"Nicky, I'm sorry, are you okay? What's going on?"

"I feel like . . . such a failure. I'm supposed to hold everythin' together . . . for everyone around me . . . but I can't do it." Nick explained, clutching handfuls of his hair, along with a few of Greg's fingers on his head.

"Why, what's happened?"

"Warrick sent me Valerie's record today, so I could take a look at..."

"What did it say?" Greg anxiously bit his lower lip, looking up into Nick's eyes.

"I... can't."

"You can't bottle this up too. You _have_ to tell me now." Greg insisted.

"She and one of the other father's..." Nick clutched his head tighter, feeling as though he was going to be sick. "They were . . . they were investigated for child molestation . . . of Libby." He gradually explained. "It was never proven though, insufficient evidence." Greg gulped hard, figuring out what he was trying to say, and why he had been freaking out. "What if it did happen and no one believed her? That was always my fear of tellin' someone. It was bad enough that it happened, but if no one believed me and called me a liar... it woulda been worse." He paused to sniffle, before putting himself down again. "I can't do anythin'. I can't protect you . . . or Danielle . . . I can't protect these babies . . . and I definitely can't protect, Libby. I haven't been able to so far . . . look at what she's already been through . . . I never wanted that to happen to... my child." He struggled to breathe, as his chest started to tighten again. "It's all my fault."

"How? How is it your fault? It doesn't all fall on your shoulders, Nicky. I believe Valerie was responsible for her, so it's her fault for allowing that to happen to her child. You had no control over it, baby."

"I just can't shake this feelin', that somethin' else is gonna go wrong. Everythin's so screwed up. I kept tellin' myself that I could protect my children, so that what happened to me would never happen to them . . . but I couldn't even do that." Nick sniffled back the tears, wiping his hands across cheeks, as he lifted his gaze to look Greg in the eye. "Why do you even love me? My own parents can't even stand me. Now Libby's gonna be as screwed up as me. I'm such a fuckin' mess . . . not to mention a failure."

"You're not a failure." Greg protested, placing his hands on his lover's knees. "Look at what you have to show for your life. You have a great job, friends who love you, a beautiful little girl, as well as a teenage daughter that you're just getting to know, and you're about to have twins, along with this whole other family you've got from me." Greg pointed out to him. "They may not all be by blood or the supposed perfect little family your parents brain washed you with, but they're _your_ family, Nicky. And we all love you more than anything in the world. Once you're a Sanders, you stay a Sanders, buddy. You couldn't get out if you tried. Nothing could ever make me stop loving you. Blood may be thicker than water, but love is much thicker than blood."

"But I..."

"No buts," Greg cut him off. "You're too smart and too good of a person to care what other people think or to try and be this perfect shell of person that your parents tried to force on you. You don't have to be perfect; you just have to be you. I love you for who you are, Nick. You're allowed to screw up, we all screw up. It's what makes us human. Danielle loves you as you are and Libby is gonna love you too. Even if you are a mess, you're my mess." Greg's last statement immediately made a smile spread across Nick's lips. "You can't fret over what you have no control over. You can't change the past, but you can change the outcome by making the future better. Do you think Libby wants you constantly thinking about something that _may_ have happened to her in the past, or do you think she wants to get to know her father and feel the love from your big ole heart, because you have so much more to offer her then your regrets over what happened to her in the past."

Nick graced him with another smile, holding Greg's hands tightly in his own. "I can't wait to marry you, Greg Sanders. You always make everythin' better."

"Who do you think I learnt it from?" He winked at him. "Now would you do me a favour and get your arse in that shower then go to bed? There's no way you're going to work in three hours like this. I'll call Grissom and tell him you can't come in, you just relax. You shoulda taken some time off for this anyway; you're too stressed out over these babies and everything. It's not good for you Nicky; you can't always be there for everyone. Now just stay here, and relax..."

"What about...?"

"I'll go get Libby; she understands that her father is only human. She'll get over you not being there this once." Greg assured him, not wanting to send him into another panic attack, while he was still just getting over the first. "I really didn't mean what I said over you letting her down. You never let anyone down, that's why you get like this. Just relax, okay?"

Nick gave him another nod, clutching the edge of the bath tub to keep himself from keeling over.

"Déjà vu, huh?" Nick smirked. "Just before Christmas, I was the one tryin' to calm you down."

"Yeah." Greg remembered, giving him a wide smile. "Good thing we're together, huh? We're both seriously screwed up and need each other to sort one another out." Nick nodded in agreement through a smile. "Will you be okay here for a sec; I'll be back in a few minutes."

"I'll be fine." He assured him.

"Okay, I'll take Danielle with me, so you only have to worry about yourself, okay?" Greg pecked a kiss to his partner's forehead then pointed out the blood on his shirt to him again, reminding him to put it in the wash, before he went to bed.

Greg then set off in the direction of Libby's house, hoping that she wouldn't be mad because Nick was so late to pick her up, as he didn't want to have to deal with some added teen drama too.

When Greg arrived, seven year old Garrett opened the door to him, giving Greg and the small child in his arms a curious look, before he hurried off to the kitchen to get his mother. Greg wondered what Garrett was even doing there, when he was supposed to be in foster care with his other two brothers.

"Who is it?" Valerie shouted, making her way towards the front door in a bathrobe and a cigarette in her mouth. "Oh... your... Greg, right?" She queried, taking a drag of her cigarette, before she turned towards the stairs, shouting, "Libby, looks like your father stood you up!"

"He didn't." Greg immediately protested, trying to come up with a decent excuse. "Nick's... sick, so he sent me to get his daughter."

"Nice, he sends you and the baby out to get his daughter, while his lazy arse lounges around in bed." Valerie remarked, blowing out the smoke from her cigarette into the cramped hallway. Greg instantly took a step back as the smell invaded his nostrils, fearing what it might do to his daughter or the babies still growing inside of him. "Libby, God Dammit! Getcha arse down here!" Valerie shrilly shouted again, ashing her cigarette against the banister of the stairs. "So I heard you're _like_ pregnant, again." She queried, looking towards Greg.

"Yeah, I _like_ am." Greg mockingly replied, looking up the stairs as Libby finally appeared.

"Hi, Greg."

"Hey, your Dad... I mean, Nick couldn't make it. So I'm gonna take you over to the house." Greg explained to her.

"Surprise, surprise." Valerie muttered, grimacing as she retracted the foul tasting cigarette from her mouth.

"Okay, I'll be right down." Libby ignored her mother then headed back into her bedroom for the bag she had packed of some of her clothes and things. While they were waiting for Libby, there was an awkward uncomfortable silence between Valerie and Greg, as neither of them knew each other, much less cared to. They were more like enemies who would refuse to communicate, unless it was absolutely necessary.

As Libby finally returned with her things in hand, Valerie immediately blocked her exit, trying another pathetic attempt to persuade her to stay, "Lib's, have you really thought about this?"

"Yes."

"Well then you're a moron!" She barked at her daughter. "This man abandoned you from the moment he knew you existed; now he can't even be bothered to pick you up on movin' in day. Then he sends his tranny boyfriend and the other spawn, just to rub it in your face."

Greg felt like grabbing the strippers head of hair and forcing her head into the wall for that statement, and he would of done it too, had there not been children in the room.

"I no longer care what you say to me anymore." Libby informed her mother, dropping her bag to the floor a moment to grab a few pairs of her sneakers from beside the door, along with her favourite jackets. "Trying to poison me against him won't work anymore."

"You think he really cares about you?" Valerie hissed at her.

"Nick cares about her a lot." Greg informed her, scolding himself, as he had promised himself not to intervene, but he couldn't just stand idly by while his fiancé was bad mouthed by a woman who didn't even know him.

"You make me sick. How can you take a child away from her mother? You're a monster!" Valerie shrieked in Greg's direction.

"You make _me_ sick." He responded. "How can you even call yourself a mother?" Greg shouted back at her, feeling Danielle trembling in his arms, as he had never once raised his voice around her.

After being shouted at by a man she barely knew over her poor parenting skills, Valerie turned back towards her daughter, trying to make one last stand. "Libby, how can you choose these people you barely know over me? Your father is sick! He's havin' children with another man! Would you rather live with me or two pillow bitin' queers? Who knows what they even get up to behind closed doors!"

Ignoring the bait, Libby lifted her bag and turned towards Greg, recommending that they leave.

Greg nodded in agreement, leading Libby off down the drive towards his car. He balanced Danielle against his side as he unlocked the car then made his way round to the trunk, opening it up to put Libby's things inside, while Valerie continued to shout hateful comments down the garden path towards her daughter.

"You're such a little tramp! How can you abandon me and your family? I gave birth to you! I should have let those monsters cut you up while you were still growin' inside of me! Fuckin' little parasite! Just think how much better my life would have been without you!"

Libby seemed undisturbed by her comments, so Greg didn't feel the need to intervene, even though he wanted to. After years of the emotional abuse her mother had afflicted on her, Libby seemed to be able to tolerate the abuse and ignore it, making Greg worried about her too, as she really was a carbon copy of her father.

"Libby! Libby!" The desperate woman shouted, hurrying towards her daughter as if she was about to beg her not to go off to war. "I've cared about you. I've raised you. How could you pick him over me?"

Once Danielle was strapped into the car, Greg felt as though he should now intervene, as his first born was safe and out of harm's way, but Libby decided to defend herself, "Because he actually wants me! You've told me thousands of times that you _didn't_ want me, but my father _does_. So I'll pick him over you any day."

"I want you here!" Valerie tried to reason with her, sounding very desperate, as if someone was taking away her next fix. "He'll get bored of you. He has his own children to care about."

"You don't want me. You just needed a babysitter for your other kids. I don't want to be around you anymore. I **hate** you! I **hate** that you brought me into this world and left me to suffer through your stupid life crisis. I **hate** the way you talk to me! I **hate** your stupid job! And I **hate** the fucking men you bring round here all the time!"

"Libby... you don't... you don't mean that."

"Yes I do! I **hate** you, do you hear me? **I hate you**!" Libby screamed at the top of her lungs, so she could get her point across to her.

She felt a sudden sense of relief as her mother was now the one in tears, making her feel as though she finally got through to her, and she could finally push her out of her life and move on.

As Valerie suddenly raised one of her hands to strike her, Libby threatened, "I will hit you back this time!"

"C'mon Libby, let's go." Greg stood beside her at the ready, just in case Valerie suddenly lunged for her, but Libby appeared to have broken her.

Libby slowly turned for Greg's car, climbing into the passenger seat, while Greg stood watch over Valerie. Even though he wanted to hate her too, he was beginning to feel a little sorry for her, not much, just a little as he would be broken if Danielle suddenly turned round and said that to him one day.

_Not that she would ever have a reason to._ Greg assured himself, making his way round to the driver's side door. He quickly checked both children were buckled in, before he pulled away from the curb, anxiously watching Valerie getting smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror, as she slowly began to disappear into the distance.

Greg retrieved a packet of tissues from the glove compartment, opening them up at the next junction to hand one over to Libby. She thanked him through a small smile, slowly wiping her tears away with her shaky hands.

"I'm really sorry for swearing." Libby suddenly apologised. "And you really didn't have to say anything to her, Greg."

"Oh, I'm... sorry."

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I meant... most people just _let_ her talk to me like that. Like Casey's mother, Angela. She's nice enough when I'm round there, but when my mother drops me off there, she just lets her talk to me like that. Just like Darci and Halle's parents. It's like they don't care, because it's none of their business to what another mother says to her own daughter. So... thanks Greg, it's nice that you care."

"Um... that's okay, don't worry about it." He smiled softly, hoping Danielle hadn't picked up any of the language, as she had been copying everyone like a parrot lately. "Are you okay?" He patiently waited for her to finish drying her eyes, before she gave him a slight nod. "I'm sorry that Nick wasn't here to pick you up. It's kinda my fault. I left him at home when he was kinda... well, doesn't matter. But it's more my fault then it is his. He's finally sleeping after two days without any sleep though."

"You guys aren't breaking up, are you?"

"Huh?" Greg looked round at her surprised, quickly shaking his head, "No, no... why would you think that?"

"Because... you were kinda avoiding each other in the car ride back from the ice skating the other week," She reminded him. "My friend Darci said that's how it starts."

"We're not breaking up. We're about to get married and have twins. We're still very much in love and very committed to one another. We've just got a lot of things going on at the moment, but we're not breaking up. All couples fight about something, if we don't then we don't wonna work on our relationship. I love Nick." Greg assured her, opening the window beside him, as he could still smell the ash tray scent wafting around him. "So, what were your brothers doing there?"

"Just the one. Garrett. He's there for a supervised visit. The social worker was in the kitchen."

"There was a social worker there... listening to all of that?" He asked surprised, as they clearly weren't doing their job if they let Valerie talk to Libby like that.

"Yeah, doesn't look good for my Mom, aye?" Libby smiled at the thought of her brothers finally getting out of that house, the same way she had. "My Mom's just decided to start getting her life together, would you believe. She quit stripping; she's just waiting tables now. She's in some twelve step program for alcoholics and something else. I think she's doing it too late though. She thought if she proved that she could change, that I might stay with her. I wouldn't care if she suddenly found god, it's too late to change."

"She still hasn't quit smoking I see." Greg noticed, remembering that Nick told him that she was pregnant.

"Yeah, that's the only thing they can't bust her for as child endangerment, since smoking isn't illegal, but she's also wearing patches and chewing the gum. She just can't shake the habit. I hope she doesn't. I don't want her to turn her life around, that's means she'll get my brothers back, and she'll be able to keep this baby to screw it up too. She's been making promises for years to stop what she was doing, but she never has..."

"Nick wouldn't make you go back to her." Greg assured her. "Not if you don't want to. He cares about you a lot. He'd do anything for you. There's only one other father in the world like him, and he just happens to mine."

"I would have loved to have your parents growing up." She smiled, remembering how nice they were to her.

"Well, now you've got em. Till death do you part." He smirked.

Greg drove Libby back to their house, helping her inside with her bags and things. He directed her through to her new room then left her to get settled, while he went to check if Nick was finally sleeping. The older man was peacefully sleeping beneath the covers, and his dirty clothes were finally in the wash. He was relieved that he was okay and not still freaking out, making himself feel so much better.

Greg remembered to call Grissom and tell him Nick wouldn't be coming into work tonight, before he started to prepare some dinner for himself, Libby and Danielle, figuring Nick would sleep right through it and grab some food when he finally awoke tomorrow.

After dinner, Greg gave Libby the tour of the house, showing her where everything was in the kitchen and bathroom, telling her to help herself to any of the food in the fridge. He remembered to show her where the breakfast bowls were, along with the cereals then handed her over the spare key they had made for her, as she had school the very next day, and she still wanted to walk in, like she was used to.

Greg got Danielle ready for bed then got her settled in her room, before he turned into bed for himself, snuggling up beside his slumbering lover. He heard Libby go to bed an hour later, hoping she would find the new bed and the sheets they had bought her comfortable, as he wanted her first night in a new house to go smoothly.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading! Should have chapter 20 up on the weekend, just wonna make a few changes to it. Please review if you enjoyed it!**

**~ Holly**


	20. Chapter 20: An Attentive Listener

**Thanks so much to Alisa for beta-ing this for me :D Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty: An Attentive Listener**

After a long few hours of sleep, Nick finally awoke, finding himself alone in bed. Yesterday's events suddenly flashed through his mind, reminding him that he had missed Libby's first night in their house. He scrambled out of bed as he realised it was nine o' clock, finding Greg and Danielle in the kitchen, but no Libby.

"Hey, you want coffee? There's bacon, eggs, toast and pancakes too." Greg offered.

"Where's Libby?" The sleepy man queried, rubbing his eyes open, as the morning sunshine was brightly filtering through the windows into the kitchen.

"School. She walked." Greg pointed out the time. "She should be the by now, since it starts at nine and all." Handing his fiancé a steaming hot cup of coffee, Greg gave him a sweet smile then pressed his lips to his fiancé's. "Are you okay?"

"MmHmm." Nick nodded, licking his lips.

"How's your back?"

"Better." Nick straightened up, realising the pain in his back had almost gone.

"So, um... what are you doing today?"

"Um... nothin'." Nick shrugged. "Why?"

"You wonna hang out with Danielle? I've got some things to do that I can't exactly bring her along to. If you're not up for it, I can check with Anne or my Mom..."

"I can look after her." Nick assured him, taking his first sip of the coffee in his hands. "What sorta things have you got to do?"

"Therapy... and a few other things. I'm meeting Sara for lunch." Turning back to the oven, Greg removed the frying pan from the top, as the eggs started to sizzle, turning off the heat, before he dished some out onto two separate plates. "Oh and we're all outta cereals and stuff. Libby told me she likes Cap'n Crunch, but she's not really that fussy. She had some of Danielle's Cheerio's this morning. But if you don't wonna do it, I can grab some stuff on my way home."

"I can shop, Greg. Did you make a..." Before Nick finished asking, Greg handed over the shopping list he had made. "What's all the sandwich stuff for? We never eat sandwiches." He noticed.

"Libby's lunch." Greg smirked. "I gave her some money to buy some today, but she said she usually takes sandwiches, as the cafeteria food sucks at her school. And make sure you get the boneless chicken." He pointed out the chicken on the list. "We're having that tonight, and it'll be easier without the bones."

"Okay." Nick nodded to him, surprised at how organised Greg was this morning. "Did she like her room?"

"She loved it." Greg winked, pressing a kiss to Nick's forehead, as he set his breakfast down in front of him. "Just like I told she would. Oh and don't forget Danielle's, Cheerio's. She's out. I don't think I added it to the list." He suddenly remembered, seeing the empty box sat beside the bin.

"Okay." Looking towards Danielle in her high chair, Nick smiled as she was holding her spoon in one hand, using her fingers from her other hand to feed herself the Cheerio's in the bowl in front of her. "So, you're goin' back to therapy? It wasn't 'cause of what I said, was it?"

"Nope."

"Then why are you goin'?"

"Because I want to." Greg smiled. "You're gonna tell me off for wanting to go now? I've got some time to get my head sorted before these babies come, and I've gotta keep taking care of you and Danielle too. I think it'll just be easier if I have a level head."

"Don't forget about Libby." He reminded him, as he still hadn't gotten used to adding her to the family roster.

"How could I?" Greg assured him with a smile. "See, yet another reason to have a level head."

"You never did tell me how it went with Valerie."

"Fine." Greg shrugged, protecting him from the truth, as he really didn't want Nick to start freaking out again over things he had no control over. "Let's just say that we won't be inviting her round for brunch anytime soon. But it went fine, nothing to worry your pretty little head over."

"Okay. Do you need me to do any laundry today?"

"Yeah, you could do. Make sure you turn my t-shirts inside out, so they don't fade." He quickly warned him, finishing off his own breakfast, so he could rush to the bedroom and get dressed. Greg returned from the bedroom dressed and ready, stealing a warm kiss and a hug from his fiancé. "Bye, I love you."

"I love you too." Nick watched as Greg kissed their daughter goodbye then waved him off as he made his way over to the door, actually feeling excited to be spending the whole day with Danielle.

* * *

"Take a seat, Miss Larson." The woman directed her to the chair in front of her desk. Valerie adjusted the jacket she was wearing to cover more of her bust to make her look more respectable, then sat patiently, waiting to hear what the woman had to offer her. "Well, you did really well on your typing test, Miss Larson. You got a ninety one, don't worry, no one's ever gotten one hundred." She smiled at her then turned her attention towards her computer beside her. "Okay, Miss Larson... we have one downtown... you understand that these jobs are just temporary, don't you, Miss Larson?"

Valerie nodded her head, gulping back that large lump in her throat, as she used to get so much more money just for standing on a stage and removing her clothes, now she was forced into labour like the rest of the human race, working minimum wage for a job she couldn't stand, in order to keep her children.

"This one is for a receptionist position, involving... typing, photocopying, answering phones... think you can do that one?" Valerie gave the woman another nod, watching as she reached for her phone. "Let me call over there and see if they've found anyone yet. You do have business attire, don't you?" She glanced at Valerie's clothes, thinking she looked like an off duty stripper.

"Um... like what?" Valerie inquired.

"Like a nice blouse, pantyhose, business skirt... smart sort of cooperate clothing. None of these... see through tops, that I can see your lingerie through." She suggested, watching Valerie inwardly rolling her eyes at the thought of having to change her entire wardrobe.

The woman phoned through to the office, giving them the details of the new temp she had lined up for them. After Valerie had a more respectable job lined up for herself, she stopped by Wal-mart, planning on doing some actual shopping for a change, as her usual shopper was currently absent.

"Hey... Nick." Valerie caught up to Nick in Wal-mart. "Hi, I'm not stalkin' you or anythin', don't worry." She smiled, as he looked round at her surprised.

"Hi." Nick casually greeted her, dropping some cereal boxes into his cart, behind Danielle sat in the trolley seat.

"So, um... how's Libby doin'?" She queried, watching Nick looking at her outfit surprised. "Oh, I was just at a job interview. I'm gonna be a temp, some law firm or somethin' needs a receptionist for the next six weeks or so, while their receptionist is on leave for her baby. My baby isn't due until July, so I have some time. But I can't get anyone to take me seriously with these things." She indicated towards her breasts. "Cost more to take the damn things out then it did to put them in."

_Yet another reason why I'm not payin' you child support._ Nick thought to himself. "So... you've, you're gettin' a new job?" He asked, trying not to sound so surprised.

"Yeah, have to... I'm nearly thirty three. I'm past my stripper prime. It was supposed to be a temporary job to support myself and my baby girl, but then I got more into the lifestyle and it kinda stuck." She sighed softly, holding the basket in her hands against her hip. "That wasn't an excuse by the way. I'm tryin' to get my life together... and I know what you're gonna say, too little too late, but I've still got my boys to think about. Oh and this baby." She remembered, pointing to her stomach. "You know, I'm in AA for my drinkin' and sex addicts anonymous, drug rehab, the walk in and out kind... obviously." She nervously started to ramble, as he was just staring at her.

"Uh... good for you." He finally answered, adjusting the little baseball cap on Danielle's head, as it looked as though it was going to slip off. "So, um... why...?"

"Why now?" She finished his sentence, adjusting her shoulder strapped purse, before she answered, "I really screwed up my chance with Libby, but I still have three boys to think about. Garrett, Emmett and Cameron are still young, I still have a chance to put things right... hopefully _before_ I lose them completely too."

"Valerie, you didn't lose Libby." Nick tried to assure her, not knowing why he was even attempting to comfort her, when he still hated her. But it was like an uncontrollable virus, he just had to do it in order to make himself feel a little less guilty, even though he knew that taking Libby away from her was the right thing to do. "I think that maybe the two of you just need some space, before you try to mend your relationship with her. Its best to just leave her alone for a while, wait till she's settled. You can still call her. I'm not gonna stop her from wantin' to talk to you, but I think it's best to just let her adjust to livin' with me for a while."

"Yeah, I know that." Valerie snidely remarked at him, taking her first proper look of Danielle in the trolley, but Nick stepped in front of her, as if he didn't want the stripper's eyes to contaminate his daughter. "Well, I'll see yah, Nick." She abruptly announced, turning to walk away.

Nick felt as though he should say something to her, but he really couldn't think of anything, so he let her just walk away. Turning back towards his daughter, Nick watched her playing with stuffed cat in her hands, making soft garble sounds as she did. He smiled at her then continued on with his shopping, before he had to be at the school to pick Libby up.

Just as he was leaving the store, Nick received a call from Warrick, asking if he wanted to meet him for lunch. Nick gladly accepted the opportunity to catch up, wanting to talk to anyone that wasn't a raging with hormones teenage girl, a hyper three year old or a very hormonal pregnant man.

* * *

"Greg, it's good to see you again." The young woman climbed to her feet, greeting him with a handshake, before she directed him towards the sofa. "So, why haven't you been to see me lately? How are things at home?"

"Nick thinks I'm depressed." He blurted, wanting to get this session over as quick as possible. "I'm pregnant again, with twins, and every little thing I do seems to make him think that I'm depressed. But I know I'm not depressed. We're both dealing with a lot of stress right now, with the new babies being twins, Christmas, Danielle, Libby, all this business with my parents. Work and stuff. But he thinks that I'm depressed, so I did some reading and apparently if I am depressed, it could be early post partum depression or something. All because we lost that baby, he suddenly thinks that I'm suddenly going crazy on him. He takes note of every little thing I do, and he's just started reading all these stupid baby books that handle second pregnancies after a loss. He's taking everything I do as a symptom of pregnancy depression. And he keeps checking in on me as though I'm gonna do something..."

"Whoa, whoa..." She interrupted him. "I've told you before Greg, you can't talk that fast. So, start from the beginning... you're pregnant with twins. How far along are you?"

"Tomorrow, I'll be exactly fifteen weeks." He remembered, reminding himself of the doctor's appointment he had tomorrow. "But I'm really not depressed. I may be a little worried about these babies, but that doesn't make me depressed. I bumped into my ex just before Christmas, the one who punched me in the stomach, making me lose my first baby, and that made me a little depressed... well actually, I kinda had a panic attack."

"You did? What was that like?" She continued with the questions.

"Scary." Greg shrugged. "I felt like I couldn't breathe, but Nick thinks I'm like depressed all the time." He got back on point. "It's really annoying, because the more he says it, the more depressed I feel, when I wasn't in the first place."

"Why do you think he thinks that you're depressed?"

Greg gave her a shrug, hating it when she only ever gave him more questions, rather than answers. "I've been really hormonal during this pregnancy. Maybe he's just realising that I'm a lot to deal with."

"Do you think you're a lot to deal with?"

Greg frowned at her, wishing she would give him a straight answer. "Well, I sorta am... at the moment anyway. When I was still having the constant morning sickness, he kept shouting at me because I was getting so emotional all the time. He gets grossed out by vomit too."

"He does? Being a CSI, I wouldn't think..."

"You have not seen somebody grossed out by vomit until you've seen Nick practically dressing in a hazmat suit to clean up the bathroom after I'm done." Greg giggled at the memory. "He used to get pretty grossed out when Danielle was blowing chunks too."

His shrink smiled then moved onto her next question, "So, how have you been feeling lately, emotionally and physically, besides the panic attack?"

"Physically, the morning sickness was taking its toll at first, making me really tired. I could never eat and I just felt so drained all the time, especially while I was taking care of Danielle, while she was teething. Emotionally, I'm a little worried about the twins . . . one of them has a slower heart than the other, but I'm not depressed about it. I haven't been able to sleep a lot during the night and I'm still never hungry. I try to force myself to eat though, for these babies. I guess I feel kinda lonely spending all day, every day at home with Danielle. I haven't exactly quit my job; I just sorta took a leave of absence that's seemed to have just extended even more."

"Would you like to go back to work?"

"I guess. I do kinda miss the people. I miss working the cases too, I guess. I definitely miss my friends. I can't see them during the day because they're sleeping then at night I'm sleeping and they're working, so that sucks. I'm meeting up with Sara for lunch though, so maybe that'll make me feel better. I used to work with her at the lab, and I miss her. I don't think Nick wants me to go back to work though. He's agreeing with my mother, saying that I should be on permanent bed rest until the end of this pregnancy. He won't even let me carry groceries at the moment. He sometimes hates it when I leave the house alone. He's worse than my mother with the protectiveness at the moment, but I know he's only doing it because he loves me. I don't know, maybe he is worried about the babies, but he sure doesn't show it with the never turning up at the appointments I have to constantly go to."

Greg looked towards his shrink for answers, but didn't like what she said, "It sounds to me like you're putting a lot off on Nick."

"I'm... not. Am I?" Greg gave himself a shrug as he pondered the question. "I don't think I am. He kinda betrayed me when he went to find his daughter without telling me though. He said he did it because he didn't want me to worry, but I felt betrayed. I'm not still mad with him though."

His shrink blinked her eyes a few times, wondering about this other daughter that Greg had yet to tell her about, but knowing him, he would get there eventually.

"He had a panic attack yesterday, more of a severe stress induced anxiety attack." Greg noted. The woman nodded, writing that down in her notes. "We're both so screwed up, I don't know why. Of course it would help if he talked to me more. You think maybe I'm not depressed at all, it's just him? He is dealing with a lot lately. He's got his new daughter Libby to think about and the whole custody case with Valerie, kinda got under his skin. Not to mention that Christmas isn't exactly his favourite time of year. It always reminds him of the family support he doesn't have that I do."

"Nick has a new daughter?" She queried, even more confused after hearing about a custody case.

"Oh, yeah... not exactly new. Her names Elizabeth aka Liberty Larson. Libby for short. She's fifteen... no wait, sixteen. She just had her birthday. We went to the movies then we went out ice skating, where he called me out on the depression thing again, all because I was thinking about Catherine's ex-husband. I told you all about that didn't I?" He paused to watch her nodding. "Well I was thinking about that, and Nick thought I was depressed again, but I was just thinking about Lindsey, and how she didn't have a father to take her ice skating and all that anymore."

"Lindsey is...?"

"Catherine's daughter." Greg giggled, as he managed to lose her again. "But I'm not so worried about that anymore. I was just thinking about it because Nick was spending time with his daughter and it made me think of Lindsey not being able to spend any time with hers."

"Okay, so... back to this new daughter of Nick's..."

"Right, Nick slept with this Valerie girl when he was seventeen, and they got pregnant. Nick didn't want the baby, as I understand it, Valerie's family kicked her out and now she's this like total... prostitute, stripper woman with more kids then she can count up to, due to all the drugs rotting her brain, and Libby's her daughter. Oh and this Valerie woman is pregnant again, while being investigated by social services for her poor parenting." He explained, finally pausing for breath. "At first, Valerie refused Nick any custody once he found out that Libby was alive, because he didn't know if she kept the baby or not. They got their lawyers together and everything for the custody hearing or whatever, and Libby made up her own little arrangement of spending most of time with Nick and only one weekend a month around her mother's to spend some time with her younger brothers. Sorry, was I talking too fast?"

Greg's therapist blinked at him a few times then looked at the doodled mess of her notes in front of her, giving her patient a smile. "No, just... a little slower, Greg. So, this Libby is living with you guys now, and Nick's stressed out about it?"

"No, did I say that? He's not stressed out; I meant that he's kinda got a lot to deal with at the moment, the addition of his teen daughter being one of them."

"You said he had a stress induced anxiety panic attack." She reminded him.

"He did, but that's... well, Nick kinda found something out, I probably shouldn't tell you all the details."

"I thought we agreed on no secrets, Greg? The little doctor – patient agreement." She reminded him about it, in case he had forgotten.

"We did. But this Nick's thing, I can't go around telling everyone. Even if you are sworn to secrecy." He smiled apologetically at her. "Anyway, he's not always stressed out. See he bottles everything up, but sometimes he can't quite keep the lid on it all, and it all just comes spilling out. But he's not always stressed out."

"So, he bottles his stress and releases it all in a panic attack?" She tried to understand.

"No, this was the first panic attack... and there was another reason behind it, you see. But that's the thing I can't tell you." He pointed out to her. "He was supposed to pick up Libby yesterday, but he was rearranging the bedroom with his bad back, and then he received some news that kinda made him freak out. But he's fine now."

"Hmm." She responded, jotting down some more notes.

"But that's not making me... you know, depressed. Libby and I get along great. We're into the same music and movies, stuff like that. She doesn't seem too bothered that I'm dating her father..."

"So, she doesn't mind. But do you?" She queried, watching his expression changing to a look of confusion. "With another woman's child in the house, Greg. You're always going to have a constant reminder of Nick's past relationships with this other woman's daughter in your house."

"No... not really." He shook his head. "Considering that Nick was only seventeen when they conceived Libby, I can't exactly blame him or her for it. I don't feel any feelings of hostility towards her. She's Nick's daughter, just like Danielle is; only Libby doesn't share DNA with me. But if my parents have taught me anything, and they really have... it's that DNA doesn't make you a family."

"I would love to meet this mother of yours someday, Greg." She chuckled, writing down yet another one of Mrs Sanders' sayings, reciting it like she all the others. "So, Libby is perfectly okay with the fact that you're dating her father. Is she showing any resentment towards the other child in her father's life?"

"You mean Danielle? No." He shook his head. "She told me she's always wanted a little sister. They haven't spent that much time together yet, but when we all went bowling, Libby loved playing with her new little sister, and she's really excited about the upcoming babies and the wedding."

"Wedding?" She looked over her notes, not recalling anything about a wedding. "Who's getting married?"

"Me and Nick, we're getting married... for real this time. In April. I don't think we've picked a date yet, because we haven't picked a venue and all that. I would invite you, but you always refuse to go to lunch with me." His therapist nodded, giving him a smile, as he hadn't asked her again since she rejected him. "And I know we're running out of time with it being February and all. Oh and get this, my mother's pregnant. She's... twenty two weeks at the moment... that's like... five months, nearly. Her baby is gonna be born before these twins, so I'm gonna get a little brother or sister."

Greg watched as his therapist's pen moved a mile a minute across the page, probably writing down everything he just said. He waited in silence for a few minutes then watched her biting her fingernails, before she decided to finally give him some help, or so he hoped. "Okay, well Greg... is there anything else I should know about?"

"Um... do you wonna see a picture of the twins?" He suggested, searching for one of the pictures he carried around with him from his pocket. "That was taken at... ten weeks. My mother came with me, because Nick was busy with his court thing. He said he can make it to the appointment tomorrow though. I'm not sure though, he never really gives me a clear answer. Maybe he just doesn't want to see them on the monitor. He saw the last one on the monitor and he got quite attached to it . . . then to lose it like that... I guess it's pretty tough on him." Greg anxiously bit his lower lip, suddenly realising that he had been putting a lot of his own baggage on Nick like his therapist said, probably making him worse.

"Wow, they're amazing, Greg." She smiled at him, handing the picture back over to him. "So, is Nick coming with you to your next appointment? You were a little unclear."

"Which...?" He asked, thinking Nick would never step foot in her office. He was afraid of shrinks.

"Your doctor's appointment tomorrow."

"Oh... should be." He shrugged. "Who knows? He might suddenly have something to do."

"Are you two still spending time with one another, with all this emotional stress put on your relationship from the new twins, this new daughter, Libby of his and everything... it's important for you to keep your relationship together, so you can support one another through this difficult time."

"We are." Greg nodded. "He was just in court for the last appointment, so he couldn't come. Believe me; he really does kick himself for missing the appointments. But I always tell him how it goes and how the babies are doing. Baby B's heart beat has been a little slower then Baby A's, the doctors not worried about it, but if you look at them carefully, you can see how much bigger this one is compared to this one." He pointed out to her.

"MmHmm." She nodded, adding that to the list. "Well, I really wish you had come to see me sooner Greg, there's a lot of issues here. And I'm only one person."

"Told yah." Greg smirked, leaning back in his seat. "C'mon Julie, just give it to me straight. I'm severely screwed up and I need electro shock therapy or something, right?"

"Not quite." Julie chuckled, shaking her head at him. "Greg, just from talking to you for a few minutes... I can tell that you're probably not depressed, but you may be... a little overwhelmed?" She suggested, watching for his reaction, before she continued, "Pregnancy is a very stressful time, especially if the pregnancy is increased with two babies. I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself and on Nick. What with the wedding coming up, which are also very stressful, and Nick's new daughter in the house... I think you two are really pushed to your limits."

"You do?" It was his turn to ask the questions.

"Yes. The added pressure could be making you feel overwhelmed, but I wouldn't necessarily say that you're depressed. I think you're putting a lot down on Nick, when it sounds like he's got a lot going on himself. Tell me; are you still intimate with Nick?"

"I guess." He shrugged, still feeling uncomfortable talking about his relationship with her. "I mean... it's been a while since we've, you know... had sex or anything, but we're still intimate."

"Are you going to come and see me regularly again, Greg?" She queried, figuring she would need a few more sessions to help him out before the babies came.

"I guess." He repeated.

"Okay, first of all... let's talk more about, Nick. Pregnancy can be very stressful for both parties in the relationship, so I'd like to hear how he's dealing with the notion of becoming a father to two more babies."

"Well, he seems pretty excited, especially to buy all the twin stuff. Like the cute little matching outfits and things. I think he's hoping for a boy with this one, but I wanted to keep it a surprise again. He's actually got Danielle for the whole day today; he's never spent a whole day alone with her before, since she became a toddler anyway. She's getting a little more hyperactive and talkative now, which I think is great, but he has a harder time keeping up with her."

"Oh, I wonder how he's doing."

* * *

After cutting up the vegetables and chicken pieces into smaller, bite sized pieces. Nick pushed the plate back towards his toddler, pulling her chair in a little closer, so she could reach the plate. Danielle shook her head in protest, stubbornly pushing the plate away from her. "Just eat a few more of the vegetables." Nick tried to reason with her.

"No." Danielle protested, pushing the plate away again. Quick as a flash, she suddenly slipped off her chair, crawling beneath the table on her hands and knees.

Warrick couldn't help but laugh, as Nick instantly pushed out his chair, reaching for the squirming tot's arms and legs beneath the table, to drag her back towards him, before she got away. He lifted her into his lap; retaking his seat opposite Warrick, with her sat on his lap. She furiously giggled and squirmed in his embrace, struggling to get down, but Nick held her tightly in his arms, keeping her restrained to his lap.

"I see a lot of Greg in her." Warrick chuckled, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of him. "Of course she looks just like you, but she's a lot more like, Greg. And you used to laugh at those poor parents with their embarrassing kids." He smirked, seeing a few people pointing towards the screaming toddler in Nick's arms, as she wanted to get down and play.

"This is nothing. When she was a baby, I had to change her diaper in the back of my truck, before I took her into Wal-mart with me, everyone who walked by was watching me as if I was doing some sort of surgery on her. Then I realised I had forgotten to bring the stupid diaper bag with me, so I stuck a plastic bag around her legs and carried her into the store to buy diapers and things. Greg still laughs about that today."

Warrick burst out laughing, shaking his head at him as he tried to imagine it. "I bet you've never forgotten that thing again, huh?"

"Oh I have. Once at the park, but one of the Mommies there were kind enough to give me a diaper and a few wipes. Then once at home, we were completely out of diapers when she needed changin', so I wrapped a hand towel around her, pinnin' it in place with safety pins, until Greg finally came back with some diapers." He chuckled at the memory. "When they say kids don't come with a manual, it really is true. So this is really nothin'. I think she's startin' her terrible twos at age three." He smirked, stopping Danielle from kicking her legs near the table. "We didn't have that much trouble with her durin' her twos, but now she's startin'... well, to get like this. A hyperactive little monster." He teased the child, tickling her as she wouldn't stop fussing.

"Don't admit that you're not loving it." Warrick set his empty glass down on the table then called the waiter over for a top up.

"It's... challengin'." Nick admitted, looking down at the innocent little pigtailed girl, reclining back in his embrace. "But I wouldn't change her for the world."

"Aww," Warrick cooed, laughing as Nick looked up at him. "Whoever thought that you'd become... like the perfect, Daddy."

"There's no such thing as a perfect, Daddy." Nick pointed out to him, fishing out his share of the bill onto the table. "We've got some time to kill at the park, before we go and pick up your big sister." He spoke to his daughter, collecting up her bag and toys off the table, once she had finally settled down in his arms. "Does Uncle Warrick wonna come along?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but I can't. I've gotta get some sleep before my shift tonight." He indicated towards the time, pulling his wallet from his back pocket, dropping his own share of the bill. "I'll have to hang out with you guys another time. Bye, bro. Bye, Danielle." Smiling at his best friend's daughter, Warrick climbed to his feet then grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair, waving the two of them off as he made his way towards the exit.

"C'mon then, you wonna go to the park?"

"Yeah!" Danielle excitedly answered.

Nick smiled at her then struggled to lift everything into his arms, carefully stepping around all the occupied tables of judgemental people, towards the exit. Nick just about managed to load everything into the back of his truck, except Danielle, remembering she had to go in her seat, and not with the luggage. He set her down in her own seat in the back, driving off to the nearest park within walking distance of Libby's school.

As soon as Nick set Danielle down in the sandbox at the park, she was running like the wind towards the climbing frame, pushing past kids double her size to reach the large bars of the ladder. He stood close by, watching her crawling through the various tunnels and things, before she reached the monkey bars. Nick expected her to stop, as she had never done them before, but instead, she decided to pull herself through the gap of the first set of bars, crawling across the top to reach the slide at the other end.

Nick could feel his heart hammering inside of his chest the whole time she was up there, as it was very high up, for her, but she didn't seem too bothered by the height of it. She giggled as she slid down the windy slide then gave out a shrieking giggle as Nick swept her into his arms at the bottom.

"You're gonna give your old man a heart attack if you do that again." He smirked, holding her tightly in his arms. Danielle responded with a cheeky giggle then pointed over to the swings in the distance, wanting to be pushed on them.

* * *

After the extended two hour long therapy session, Greg met with Sara for a quick lunch, catching up on everything that was going on at the lab, as Nick never got any of the gossip. Seeing Sara made Greg miss working at the lab even more. He wanted to go back to work, but his therapist, Julie had advised against it, as there was already too much stress in his life at the moment that could be adding more pressure to his mental state, causing health problems for both him and the babies.

To occupy their time during lunch, Sara had brought along a gender pregnancy quiz, that was supposed to help expecting mothers guess the gender of their unborn babies. Greg didn't believe answering a few simple questions could guess the gender of his babies, but he decided to go along with it anyway. "Question number four, are you carrying high or low?" Sara queried, watching Greg trying to guess through the baggy sweatshirt he was wearing.

"Low... I guess. I'm not that big at the moment, so I can't tell."

"Okay." Sara marked low on the quiz, reading off the next question, "Are you craving sweet or salty foods?"

"Right now... sweet." He licked his lips as he saw the waitress walking by with some delicious sugary doughnuts for the table opposite them.

"Does your pillow face north or south?" Sara asked the next question, furrowing her brows together, as the question seemed completely ridiculous.

"North."

After taking another bite of her salad, Sara read off the next question, "Was the month of your conception odd or even?"

"Um... I was six weeks at the end of December, so it must have been... November, maybe. Odd."

"Is your bump sticking out straight or spread wide from side to side?" She queried, noticing Greg was pulling at his sweatshirt to look. "Straight?" She queried, watching him giving her a nod. "I won't ask you the ovulating question. Um... do you recall the sexual position that resulted in conception?"

"I don't know." He giggled, feeling uncomfortable for talking about that with her. "Let me see, on odd months we usually prefer to lie down... although there was that..."

"Greg, please..." She pleaded him with her eyes. "I don't need to know that. Let's just say... lying down, okay?" Greg gave her a nod, grinning widely as she was blushing brighter than him. "Do you eat more potassium rich foods like bananas, fruit and meat of more magnesium rich foods like soy, nuts and leafy vegetables?" She queried then looked at his pork sandwich in front of him, guessing the answer for herself. "Okay, what about nausea? Have you been experiencing morning sickness, that goes away at the end of the day, sick all day or none?"

"I _was_ being sick all day, but it's gone away now."

"I feel a little cruel asking you this next one," Sara took a swig of her water, before she asked him, "Would you say pregnancy has made you more or less attractive?"

"I'm fat and spotty, what would you say?" He smiled at her.

Sara circled one of the answers, before she moved onto the next question, giving it a frown, before she read it out to Greg, "I'm sorry for asking this, but does the father to be, wear tight fitting briefs or loose boxers? And you seriously don't have to tell me, because I really don't wonna know Nick's underwear preference." She warned him, showing her discomfort with the topic.

"Well, he kinda wears both. It depends what the rest of the outfit is. Those tight jeans don't look so tight with loose boxers." He cheekily pointed out to her.

"Ew, Greg. Enough." She cringed, frowning at him, as he threw his head back in laughter. "Are your feet... cold or warm?"

"Um... normal." He smirked. "How can that tell if there's a girl or boy in yah belly? Does the baby suddenly change gender if my feet get cold?" He giggled.

"I have no idea." Sara shrugged. "Especially considering you've got twins, maybe you have one of each and this quiz is completely useless for you. Okay, does the hair on your legs grow faster or the same?"

"The same as what?" He asked. "I don't shave my legs."

"Okay, we'll leave that one blank." She grinned at him, realising most of these questions applied to pregnant females, who did shave their legs among other feminine things. "Do you eat the heel of a loaf of bread?"

"What's that?"

"The end. Maybe we should skip the female ones and the food ones." Sara chuckled, figuring Greg still only ate fast food that came out of a microwave. "Okay, um... well, I'm not sure this one really applies to you either, but have your breasts grown in size at all?"

"No!" He hissed, covering his hands over his flat chest. "Do you think they have? Because they haven't."

"Okay... don't get stressy with me." She giggled, calculating his score at the end of it, from the questions he could answer. "Well, according to the old wives tales, pregnancy quiz, you're pregnant with a girl. The carrying low, conceiving on an odd month of ovulation, eating a magnesium rich diet, having severe morning sickness and looking _less_ beautiful, would indicate a girl, while carrying high and out front, conceiving at the time of ovulation . . . and in a position of deep penetration, eating a potassium rich diet, having mild morning sickness and looking _more_ beautiful, would indicate a boy. According to this, boys give beauty during pregnancy, while girls take it away."

"You put me down as not beautiful?" He giggled, watching her immediately blushing.

"No, just you said about the acne and the weight... even if I change that one though, the results still come out a girl." She informed him then reached for her phone, as it started to beep. "Crap, I hate being on call. I gotta go." She groaned, searching for some money, before she grabbed her jacket off the back of the chair. "Sorry, Greg. Congratulations on the possibility of having a girl. We'll do this again later."

"Okay." Greg smiled as she gave him a quick hug then took a look at the pregnancy quiz for himself, reading through all the questions again, to check they were right. He noticed that Sara had missed the question about whether he was craving sex, probably because she was uncomfortable about Nick's underwear and the position of penetration that the baby was conceived in. Then he realised that he hadn't actually been craving sex at all, he hadn't even been thinking about it, but with Danielle, it was all he could think about.

Greg decided to head home early from his errands, relaxing in his bed with nothing but the bright afternoon sun shining through the window across the room from him to occupy his time. Sliding his hand across the slight pooch of his stomach, Greg smiled as he thought about the babies growing in there, trying to imagine what they'd be like once they were out.

Suddenly feeling the weight shift on the bed, Greg directed his attention towards Nick's once vacant side, smiling as his partner crawled towards him, pressing his lips to his forehead, for his usual greeting. "Just when I was starting to miss you, you appear." Greg giggled, opening his arms to him. "So, how was your day, Daddy-O?"

"Pretty amazin'." Resting his head against Greg's shoulder, Nick draped one arm around his lover's body, snuggling up against him. "Danielle's been kinda hyper all day though."

"Sorry." Greg apologised, lifting Nick's hand from his chest, to lace their fingers together. "She probably gets that from me."

"No, it was okay."

"You did remember to pick Libby up from school today, right?"

"Yes, I'm not that forgetful." He chuckled. "Danielle was mesmerised by the neighbour's cat in the garden, so Libby took her out there to take a look at it."

"She's obsessed with cats." Greg giggled, spotting Libby in the garden, but he couldn't see Danielle as she was much shorter. "I tried to explain to her about the baby brothers or sisters she'll be getting soon, and she asked if she could have a cat instead." He smirked then lifted his fiancé's head off his shoulder, to give him a proper kiss.

"What was that for?"

"I love you." Greg whispered, thinking over everything his shrink had told him, as he lost himself in Nick's eyes. "And I'm sorry, for how I've been. You don't have to come to the doctor's appointment tomorrow. You can... I dunno; hang out with Libby or something. I've been putting a lot of pressure on you lately, when you're already going through so much, and I'm sorry. My therapist doesn't think I'm depressed, but I am overwhelmed with everything that's going on. Maybe we should change our minds about that vacation idea after the wedding?"

"We can't afford it, not with these little ones on their way out." Nick reminded him. "And you haven't been puttin' pressure on me..."

"Yes I have, don't defend me. I'm a moany little bitch and you've been putting up with me for too long." He giggled at the sight of a smile on Nick's face. "We've put a lot of pressure on ourselves with the wedding, Libby moving in and the twins. That's why we're wound so tight and constantly yelling at each other. Julie said it's okay to have arguments now and then; it's when the communication stops between us that we should start to worry."

"Like the sex in our relationship?" He queried, resting on his elbow beside Greg's head. "Should we worry about that?"

"It's only been a couple of weeks."

"Two months, nearly three." Nick corrected him.

"You've been counting?" He asked surprised, realising he was a man, so that was exactly what he was doing. "So, we're still intimate." Greg brushed his thumb across Nick's lips, holding his body close against him. "We still hold hands and kiss in the shower. We snuggle on the sofa. Bath together, kiss whenever we can. And we still spoon in bed. Is that not enough for you?"

"I always want more of you." Nick smirked. "Are you scared to have sex with me while you're pregnant?"

"No. Although I should be. You know it can cause miscarriages, premature labour and all that. But I'm not scared to have sex with you... I just don't feel like it. But there are other things we can do that don't involve penetration." He pointed out to him, smoothing his hands beneath his partner's shirt to feel his muscled chest.

"Except the kids are right outside the window." Nick reminded him, constantly checking on them to make sure they were safe. "What if they see us?"

"We're parents now Nicky, we have to work our sex life around them. There's these things called door locks and curtains that we're gonna have to get used to." The younger man giggled, continuing to gently stroke the smooth muscles of his partner's back. "Can you believe it's only six weeks till our wedding?" He whispered against Nick's parted lips.

"I know. I can't believe it. It's all gone by so quick. But I'm glad, because I can't wait to marry you." Nick smiled, covering Greg's mouth with his own, but allowed Greg to dominate his tongue inside of his mouth, taming it to do exactly what he wanted. Nick couldn't remember the last time Greg had kissed him like this, making him desperately hungry for more.

Weaving his fingers through Nick's silky soft hair, Greg traced his lips with his tongue, before he pulled back to speak. "I love you, Nicky. From now on, you have to tell me when I'm being a bitch to you, because I don't realise that I'm doing it."

"You're not a bitch, Greg." He assured him. "I know you've got ragin' hormones because of this pregnancy..."

"Don't defend me again. I'm beginning to feel as though I'm emotionally abusing you and you're just living with it, because you're too blind to see any different. I want you to be happy, Nicky. Don't settle for the bitchy boyfriend."

"I love my bitchy boyfriend." Nick smiled at him, caressing Greg's stomach beneath his t-shirt. "He's really not that bad once you get used to him. I'd rather be with him then without him."

"Aww, you're so sweet when you're lying through yah teeth." Greg giggled, playfully tickling his fiancé, suddenly making his tummy rumble. "Are you gonna answer that?"

"Yes, I was gonna go get dinner started. I got the boneless chicken like you suggested for the curry thing..."

"Sure you know how to make it?"

"Yes. There's these things called recipe books, like cheat sheets for tests." Nick grinned at him. "You just stay here and relax baby. I can handle making a chicken curry."

"Wait, don't go yet." Greg reached over for the magazine on his bed side table, showing Nick the quiz he had taken with Sara. "We _could_ be having a girl. Sara found it while she was bored; she decided to do the quiz on me."

Nick took a seat beside him again, reading through the questions and the circled answers. "You think you look less beautiful?" He immediately noticed the question. "You look really beautiful when you're pregnant, Greg."

"That's just your opinion." He giggled. "Apparently boys give beauty, while girls take it away. Does that mean after Danielle I was less beautiful, because she stole my looks?"

"No. You just get more and more beautiful every day. But I can't believe you talked about our sex life, my underwear and position of penetration when the baby was conceived with Sara."

Greg cheekily giggled, pulling Nick closer to kiss him. "She was very uncomfortable about that too, but I think she'd probably scrubbed it from her mind by now. Let's just say she'll never look at you in your tight jeans the same again."

Nick gave him a curious look, trying to understand what he meant, but as Greg pulled him closer to kiss him again, he no longer cared what he had told her. He closed his eyes as Greg's arm snaked around his neck, holding him close while their tongue merged together in his mouth.

Abruptly pulling back from Nick's mouth, Greg asked, "Do you think I have breasts?"

"What?" Nick almost choked at the question.

"Breasts Nicky," He giggled. "You know those things girls usually have on their chests."

"I know what breasts are." Nick scowled at him then gave him a curious look. "Why would I think you have breasts?"

"Because..." Greg pushed Nick back slightly, tugging his t-shirt up his chest to show him. "The doctor said I need to keep gaining weight, but I'm beginning to get man boobs, so I was asking you, if you thought I had them."

"They... look the same to me." Nick awkwardly smiled at him. "Maybe it's just the natural hormones in your body. The doc did say your estrogen levels are higher for this pregnancy. You do have XXY chromosomes, so it might be..."

"How is growing boobs natural?" Greg interrupted him.

"C'mon Greg, you're a scientist. Everyone knows that women's breasts get bigger durin' pregnancy, because of the milk glands... or somethin'. Maybe you..."

"Don't even say it." Greg cut him off with his finger to his lips.

"I'm just sayin' Greg; it might just be the pregnancy hormones. It'll go away after their born. And it's not even that noticeable." He assured him, as it really wasn't. "You know, after you told me you were a hermaphrodite, when you got pregnant with Danielle. I did some readin' on the subject and some pregnant males have even been able to breast feed their babies."

"Ew." Greg cringed, giggling softly as Nick playfully tickled him.

"It's a perfectly natural thing, Greg. It's more natural than a man gettin' pregnant. Hell, before I met you I never thought that men could even get pregnant, or that this... third gender, so to speak, even existed. Breast feedin' is completely natural though..."

"I'm not doing it; I'll just chalk up to all the fatty foods I've been eating." Greg dismissed him, tugging his t-shirt back in place. "Your man boobs are bigger than mine, you can do it."

"They're not man boobs." He chuckled, playfully poking Greg in the sides. "We'll just forget we ever had this conversation, okay? So we could be havin' another girl?" He changed the subject.

"Yeah, did you wonna another one?"

"Yeah, I can live with another girl. Who wouldn't wonna be surrounded by beautiful girls, from their beautiful Daddy?" He winked at his fiancé. "I'm gonna go make dinner. Do you want some this time?"

"Yes please."

"Okay. I love you, man boobs and all." After pecking a kiss to his partner's forehead, Nick scrambled off the bed, giving his fiancé a wide smile as he headed in the direction of the kitchen to get started on making dinner. While stood in the kitchen, Nick caught sight of his two daughters in the garden, watching them running about across the grass. As Libby finally caught up to Danielle, she gently tickled her, giving her new baby sister a wide smile, as the little girl giggled sweetly in her arms.

Nick had originally feared that Libby might resent Danielle for being able to have him as a father in her life from the moment she was born, while she didn't, but they seemed to be getting on fine, as if they had been sisters for years.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed that chapter, please review if you did :D**

**Have a GREAT weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	21. Chapter 21: Powerless to Respond

**Thanks to Alisa my beta for your help on this one!**

**I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I wanted to finish writing 'Without You' before I got back to this one. I've written up to chapter 23 for this one, but they still need a bit of work before I post them. I hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty One: Powerless To Respond**

After three weeks of living with her father and his boyfriend, Libby was beginning to get the hang of a normal family life; much more normal than her old one anyway. She no longer had to fight with her younger siblings to get to the bathroom in the morning. Breakfast time was no longer a battle to get everyone seated with their cereals, which usually resulted in her picking out bits of food from her hair.

Now breakfast was waiting for her on the table, when she emerged from the bathroom and she was handed a packed lunch, receiving kisses to her forehead, before she finally left for school. Even her clothes came back to her room fully washed, neatly folded and ironed. She was beginning to feel like a spoiled princess. After years of slaving around her own house after her mother and younger brothers, she had finally earned her reward to be pampered.

But she still couldn't get used to it.

"Libby, you don't need to do that." Nick stopped her from her washing up. "Doncha have homework to do?" He suggested, placing the cups in the dishwasher that she was just about to wash.

"Did it." Libby assured him, drying her hands on a towel. "You know, Nick, I can pull my own weight. I'm not some little princess."

"I know that, but it's only your third week here." Nick pointed out to her, lifting Danielle from the floor into his arms, as she cried out for his attention. "I want you to get settled in first." He smiled at her, holding his squirmy three year old against his chest.

"You're making me feel like a guest in your house though. Gimme some chores to do." She insisted.

"You wonna do chores?" Nick looked at her surprised, giving her another smile. "Um... well I appreciate your offer to help..."

"I live here too." She cut him off. "If I had been living here since I was born, what chores would you already have me do?" She queried, folding her arms across her hooded sweatshirt, as she looked up into his eyes. As Nick anxiously bit his lip in deep thought, Libby realised just how clueless her father was at parenting a teenager. "I'm very independent for my age, Nick. I've been fixing my own dinner since... well, I was little older than Danielle. It wasn't exactly a lasagne or anything like Greg makes, but I did it. I've been cleaning, cooking and washing my own clothes since I was first in school too. You can't rewrite my history..."

"I know... believe me, I know."

"So stop tiptoeing around me. You want me here doncha?" Nick gave her a firm nod, carefully adjusting his fidgety toddler against the other side of his chest. "So treat me as if I'm your _real_ daughter, instead of a guest. You know I've waited years to meet my real Dad, I don't want him to treat me like a temporary guest."

"I'm sorry." Nick looked at Danielle in his arms then looked back at Libby, sighing heavily as he answered, "See, this is why your parents tell you never to meet someone you idolise, because as it turns out, they aren't this great, perfect person like you thought."

"I never thought you were perfect." Libby smiled softly to him. "But you are pretty great."

"Okay . . . thanks," Nick looked around the house then back at the sticky toddler in his arms. "I'll think of some chores and things to give yah. In the meantime, you wonna pick up Danielle's toys so I can vacuum or you wonna bath the sticky tot?" He indicated towards her in his arms.

"Toys. This is a clean sweatshirt." She smirked, seeing Danielle had already wiped her sticky hands down the front of his shirt.

"Okay. The toy chest is behind the sofa, it's probably empty from the amount of toys out here." Nick stepped over one of the toy trucks, carrying Danielle off to the bathroom to bath her, while Libby helped him by clearing away the toys haphazardly left in every room of the house.

Nick carefully sat Danielle on the edge of the bathtub, removing her sneakers and socks, before he unclipped the straps of her dungarees, lifting her out of them. "How'd you end up gettin' so sticky already? I only just gave you a bath this mornin'." He smirked, playfully tickling her.

Danielle wriggled in his arms as he lifted her down into the tub, giving her a quick sponge down to remove the sticky trace from the fruit pieces she had for lunch.

"Honey, I'm home." Greg announced, pressing a kiss to the top of the man's head. "You know that birthing class isn't so bad, except now everyone thinks my mother gives birth to fat kids." He indicated towards his belly. "She was a little annoyed that they offered her some weight loss tips after the birth, but she was even more embarrassed when they gave me an offer to join their Mommy and Me gym after I told them about Danielle."

"You didn't tell them the truth?" Nick looked up at him surprised. "How come? You've been blabbin' to everyone lately."

"Yeah, but these are _other_ pregnant ladies. I don't want them talking about all that pregnancy stuff with me. Anne across the street is bad enough." Greg perched himself on the edge of the bathtub, smiling as his squirmy toddler fought against Nick's embrace, as he tried to wash her sticky chin. "What happened here then?" He queried.

"Oh, we had watermelon, raisins, apples and cheese for lunch."

"Mmm, sticky," The younger man smirked, grabbing the towel from the rail behind him. "I see you finally got your teenage daughter into slavery." He noticed.

"She offered to help." Nick defended himself, taking the towel from his partner's hands, to wrap Danielle into it. "She practically begged me to have some chores to do. I figured you could decide, since you boss me about enough." He smiled at him, lifting Danielle onto his hip, wrapped in her towel.

"I don't boss you about." Greg protested, following him through to their bedroom.

"Yeah you do. This mornin' you woke me up and said you're goin' out with your mother, so I've got Danielle for the day. That's bossy." He pointed out to him, laying Danielle on the bed, while he grabbed some of her clean clothes from the pile of fresh ironing on top of the chest of draws.

"That's not bossy." Taking a seat beside Danielle, Greg gently wiped her down with the warm towel, smiling softly as she continued to giggle and squeal in her adorable baby babble. "I was just telling you what I was doing for the day." Greg pointed out to him.

"Assumin' that I didn't have any plans myself," Nick smirked, touching a kiss to his partner's cheek. "That's not _as_ bossy as you get, but it is bossy, G. I just meant that you're kinda the head of the house, so you could decide what she could help out with." He corrected himself, before he started to dress Danielle in her pink spotted pyjamas, figuring she would be going to bed soon anyway. "Maybe when these twins come along, we should think about makin' a chore chart for them all or somethin'?" He suggested. "I can't believe I never thought of all this before. Did your parents make you do chores?"

"Yep, despite what you all think of me, I'm not such a spoiled brat. I probably didn't work my ass off like you did on the ranch, but if I wanted the new in style jeans or something, I had to earn them." Greg smiled at him then pressed a kiss to the back of Danielle's hand, as she waved her hands out at him, making Nick's job even more difficult to get her dressed. "We can do the chore chart, but I think this one's a little young, you won't even let her dress herself. We're supposed to be encouraging her to take on more independence." Greg pointed out to him.

"She's only _just_ turned three." Once he was done dressing Danielle, Nick lifted her into his arms then took a seat beside Greg on the bed. "She's still a baby at the moment; can't we just keep her that way a little longer?" He sweetly pouted at him. "Kids grow up way too fast these days. We can hold onto the baby in her for a little longer, right?"

"She'll always be your baby, big guy." Greg grinned at his adorableness, lacing their hands together. "I don't think you have to worry about losing this one to boys or any of that at three anyway. We've got maybe a decade to prepare for that." He assured him, bringing their lips together for a kiss, pulling apart as Danielle touched her hand to his chin. He giggled softly then touched a kiss to the delicate skin of her palm, giving his fiancé a wide smile. "She'll always be your baby, Nicky. I think you're just more worried about her..."

"Because of Libby," Nick nodded to him, assuming he was going to say that. "I still get to watch her grow up though, see who she's gonna be." He smiled at him. "I'm not gonna freak out on you again, Greg. You don't need to worry."

"Okay." Greg smiled then leant across the bed to press a kiss to his lips. "You need to go and get ready for work, mister. You're gonna be late."

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Nick quickly handed Danielle over to Greg then hurried off to the bathroom to get himself ready to work. Greg finished dressing Danielle then took her through to her bedroom to put her down for bed, wishing he could spend more time with his fiancé, as he really missed spending intimate time with him.

Nick quickly gave Greg and Danielle a kiss goodbye, before he made his way through to the kitchen, noticing something had fallen from Libby's school back pack onto the floor. "Hey, what's this?" Nick held up the bright pink flyer to Libby.

"Nothing." Libby snatched it up from his hands, screwing it up in a ball, before she tossed it into the trash. "Just some dumb... dance thing." She shrugged, returning to picking up the Lego blocks on the floor.

"A school dance?" He queried, straightening the collar of his jacket.

"What do you care?" She suddenly snapped, getting all defensive. "I'm not going anyway, so it doesn't matter. Nobody goes to these things, only those anorexics on crappy Disney movies." Grabbing her bag, Libby turned and walked off to her bedroom, slamming her door shut behind her.

"Thanks for pickin' up the toys!" He shouted after her, hearing a faint reply from her bedroom. Nick rolled his eyes at himself, wondering why a teenager wouldn't want to go to a school dance, as him and his own sisters used to love them.

* * *

"See, this is exactly why I don't wonna rush into anything." After hearing his best friend talking about his crisis with parenting a teenage girl for the past three weeks, Warrick was steering clear of women expecting more from him and the whole concept of marriage and having babies. "Don't get me wrong, kids are great and everything. But this just proves my point that marriage and parenthood shouldn't be rushed into. Do you ever think that your life coulda been better if you had never gotten Greg pregnant?"

"No." Nick immediately answered, looking at the pictures in his locker of his family. "I don't regret anythin' with Greg. Danielle's amazin'. She's this tiny little person made completely out of me and Greg, you have no idea how it feels to create a life."

"True." Warrick nodded, climbing to his feet. "Maybe that life just isn't for me." He shrugged, grabbing his kit off the floor. "Anyway, I gotta get going. I think Sara's on the rag or something, she's insisting on wanting to drive and get to the crime scene before the coroner."

Nick gave out a soft chuckle then made his way off towards Grissom's office, immediately being handed a slip. "Domestic violence? Since when do we respond to domestic violence calls?" Nick queried, after reading the assignment.

"Since there's a child involved. A child that's currently missing." Grissom climbed to his feet, grabbing his jacket from the pegs behind him. After pulling his jacket on, Grissom lifted his kit from the floor then led the way towards the elevators, explaining the details of their case to Nick.

* * *

Looking up towards his bedroom door as it creaked open; Greg smiled as he spotted his little Munchkin stood in the doorway, holding a teddy in one arm with her favourite blanket under the other. As she wandered into the room, Greg smiled as her diaper crinkled beneath her pyjamas. She shuffled across the floor then held her arms up to him, so he could lift her under the covers, to sleep in his comforting embrace, rather than the lonely room next door.

"Can't you sleep, baby?" He whispered, tucking the covers around her. "I know how you feel. I can't sleep without Daddy here either."

"Where Daddy go?" She queried, rolling onto her side beside him, with her teddy bear held tightly in her little arms.

"Daddy's gone to work." Greg reminded her, brushing the hair from her face with his fingertips. "He'll be here in the morning when you wake up though." He assured her then touched a kiss to her forehead, giving her a smile as she snuggled against him.

"When babies come?" She suddenly asked him.

"They're due the day before Daddy Nicky's birthday." He reminded her. "But they might be here sooner than that. Are you getting excited to meet your baby brothers or sisters yet?" Danielle responded by shaking her head. "Why not?"

"I won't be baby no more."

"Yes you will," He softly tickled her. "You'll always be my baby." Grinning widely at his adorable little girl, Greg pulled her closer against his chest, giving her a big hug, before they dozed off to sleep together.

* * *

"No, Jim! Please, Jim. Don't, Jim." The woman started to whimper, as her husband gripped his hand tighter around her throat, holding his other fist at the ready to smash her face in. "Please, Jim!"

"That's enough! Step away from her!" Nick shouted, feeling his shaky finger hovering over the trigger. "Get back! C'mon now, think about this! We're cops!" He indicated towards the other officers behind him. "Just... just let her go!"

"Jimmy, please. Please Jim!" His wife continued to blubber, screaming in terror as he banged her head against the wall behind her again.

Nick couldn't stand it any longer. He ignored the protests coming from his supervisor and Captain Brass, rushing for the suspect. He dragged him down to the ground with his body weight, tearing him away from his wife, before he battered her anymore.

Jimmy tried to swing his fist at Nick as the two of them toppled to the ground, but he wasted his energy, hitting nothing but air. Before he knew what was going on, another officer aided Nick in the arrest, pinning the suspect's arms behind his back to restrain him with their hand cuffs.

Nick let out a breath of relief, holstering his weapon now that the suspect was down. He glanced up towards Grissom and Brass, seeing the disciplinary looks in their eyes, as he had ignored protocol again.

"Jimmy! Jimmy, no! You can't take him." The wife immediately started to protest, struggling against the officers holding her, while the other officers dragged her abusive husband out the door. "What are you doing? You can't do this." She turned to look at Nick with an angry look in her eyes. "Look what you've done now, fucking pig!" She spat on his vest. "You've left my kids without a father! He just gets like this sometimes. You can't take him!"

* * *

"I'll never understand these women." Dabbing the hateful spit from his vest, Nick grimaced as he tossed the tissue into the trash then looked up towards Warrick stood beside him. "Five seconds before she spat on me, he was ready to pound her face into the wall behind her, then she spits on _me_ because I stopped him and arrested him. I swear it's like these women have multiple personalities."

"You just don't get it, Nick." Sara lightly slapped him round the head, as she stepped around him towards her own locker. "It's like these men have some kind of power over them. They've brain washed them or something into believing that they're only worth the hateful love that these men provide." She explained, from the way someone had once explained it to her. "And of course the men themselves are emotionally imbalanced..."

"They're just as nuts as their wives." Nick muttered, climbing to his feet to grab a clean shirt from his locker. "And why would that woman want him back anyway? He was terrifyin' the kids. I thought they have this protective mother crap in them." He ducked as Catherine tried to slap him, giving her a surprised look. "What's your problem?"

"Don't mouth off things you don't understand, Nicky. You men have no idea how it feels to be degraded that badly, it's as if you're not even a worthy human. They believe they can change their man if only they loved him enough or the right way. They don't tell anyone, because they believe that they are worthless, just like their husbands tell them."

"And they believe that they can't live without them." Grissom added, entering the room with them. "He's been released, Nick. His wife just bailed him out. She's not pressing charges and all of her children and present and accounted for. Social services will be in touch with them about the children's well being, but that's as much as we can do."

"Good news, you'll be cleaning up her body in a few hours . . . or his, then you'll have to lock her away." Sara remarked, slamming her locker shut, before she stormed her way out of the room and down the hall.

"Or you can get her into a shelter." Catherine suggested, seeing the lost look on Nick's face. "Go with the kid's safety angle, that usually convinces them. I had this repeat callout a few years ago. After he finally broke her jaw, she decided to get herself and her daughter into a shelter."

"You can always take her to the morgue and show her what she'll look like in a couple of weeks?" Warrick suggested, getting an eye roll from both Catherine and Grissom.

"I'll try Catherine's approach, thanks."

"No you won't, Nicky." Grissom stopped him, surprising the man. "Both Ecklie and Brass think that I should take disciplinary action against your decision to rush the suspect."

"He was poundin' her head into a wall." Nick defended himself.

"I'm sorry," Grissom hung his head, giving out a soft sigh, as he really didn't want to do this right now, but he had to. "As of now, you're on desk duty. These rules are put in place for both yours and the victim's safety. I'll need your gun and your badge."

"What?" Nick hissed. "I saved her from havin' permanent damage and I'm the one who's..."

"Rules are rules, Nick." Ecklie interrupted him, appearing at the doorway beside Grissom. "If it were up to me, you'd be on suspended leave, without pay for the rest of the month. But as you're on Grissom's golden boy list, you get a free pass." He remarked, glaring directly at Grissom, who remained silent.

Nick reluctantly handed over everything he had worked hard for then stormed out of the room, finding somewhere to cool off, so he wasn't tempted to bury his fist in Ecklie's face, as the man had never liked him.

* * *

After getting ready for school the next day, Libby searched the house for her father, finding no sign of him in any of the rooms. Stopping by the kitchen, Libby spotted Greg leant over the high chair, making aeroplane noises as he guided the spoonful of carrots towards his daughter's mouth. Danielle covered her hands over her mouth, giving out a cheeky giggle as Greg mimicked the sounds of a crash. Libby smiled at them, not remembering a single moment of her mother ever doing a thing like that.

"Hey Greg, where's Nick?" She queried, stepping into the kitchen with him.

"Oh, he's still at work. I think he's pulling another double. You wonna ride to school?" He offered, but she shook her head, grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit on the counter. "Doncha want breakfast? I can make some pancakes or something, anything you fancy." He offered.

"No thanks, I'm fine." Libby shook her head. "And I've got PE first thing. Its always harder to run around the track on a full stomach."

"How about lunch?"

Libby nodded, indicating towards the apple in her hands, as she grabbed her coat and bag from the door, before she left. Greg watched her disappearing down the driveway then turned his head back towards Danielle, smiling as her hungry little mouth was gaped wide open, waiting for the spoon from his hands to reach it.

* * *

"You know I'm hitting on you, right?" The woman asked, giving Nick a wide smile.

"Well, ma'am... I am a trained observer," He pointed out to her. "But I'm also engaged, so I'll have to pass. Nothin' personal," He assured her then reached for his phone as it started to ring. "Speakin' of," An immediate smile spread across his lips as he raised the phone to his ear. "Hi, baby. You miss me?"

"_I guess so. The mechanic just looked at my car, and it's gonna set us back six hundred."_ Greg groaned, pressing the phone against his shoulder, while he lifted Danielle down over the other side of the gate, to keep her in the living room, while he finished cooking. "_But that's not the worst of it. The plumber said it's gonna cost us four hundred to fix the leaky pipe in the bathroom."_

"Hey, we can manage, baby. I know we're not exactly rakin' it in, but we're not broke. We can afford it, just... gimme some time."

"_We're trying to save up for the babies."_ Greg reminded him. "_How are we supposed to afford two hundred dollar car seats, cribs, change tables, clothes..."_

"I said we can manage, and we will." Nick assured him, as he stepped out of the break room into the hall. "Don't getcha self all panicked, honey. We're doin' fine, and we still got a little while to go before we have to start worryin' about things like that."

"_Okay."_ Greg sighed softly, leaning back against the counter behind him. "_Just hurry home, okay? I miss you."_

"Miss you too." Nick snapped his phone shut then stepped into the locker room, looking at Warrick sat on the bench, answering text messages from his latest conquest. "Hey, you doin' anythin' right now?"

"Yeah, I gotta make a trash run. Sara thinks our suspect might have been dumb enough to dump his bloody clothes at the place where he worked." Warrick smirked, climbing to his feet to close his locker. "You off out again?"

"Yeah, I wanted to check on my victim, since her husband was just released on bail."

"Aren't you on desk duty?" Warrick reminded him.

"So, what they don't know can't hurt em. I'm sick of sittin' in a damn office all day. I don't like to be stuck inside, especially when I didn't do anythin' wrong in the first place."

"This time." Warrick remarked, lifting his kit from the floor. "Good luck trying to convince her to do the right thing. But I'm not covering your back while you're gone."

"Don't need it covered. I'm goin' out to get breakfast." Nick smiled at him, holding the list he had written of meals the lab crew wanted from I-HOP to fill their rumbling stomachs. "My victim's house is on the way." He grinned, leading the way towards the elevators to leave.

* * *

Knocking on the door, Nick patiently waited for an answer, but was suddenly startled by a sudden crash of a heavy object. "Nancy!" He shouted through the door, pounding his fist against the frame this time. "Nancy! Nancy." Nick grabbed for the gun on his hip, groaning in annoyance as he remembered that it had been taken away from him. He thought about calling in for backup, but then he would be in big trouble with Grissom and possibly suspended without pay.

Peering through the window beside the door, Nick spotted Jimmy angrily kicking about the furniture, throwing another one of his tantrums. Making a quick decision, Nick took a step back from the door, giving it one hard kick with his heavy boot.

The door immediately flew open, sending Nick hurrying through it towards the kitchen, where Jimmy was stood in front of Nancy. "Jimmy, don't move! Get down!" He shouted, without a weapon in his hands, only making Jimmy throw his head back in laughter. "I'm serious, Jimmy. Don't move!" He yelled, looking on in horror as he saw the blood dripping from between them. "Jimmy... don't." He carefully side stepped around the kitchen table, realising Jimmy had stuck a knife in Nancy's gut.

"You're too late." Jimmy dropped the blood soaked knife to the floor then turned to run.

Nick made a split second choice to help Nancy, by grabbing the towel from the kitchen to try and stop the bleeding from her wound. He made sure she was holding onto it, before he chased the man towards the back garden, wishing he had his gun, as he lost him past the neighbour's fence.

Nick finally decided to call in for backup and an ambulance, as he ran back to the house, dropping to his knees beside Nancy, trying to apply pressure to her wound again. "Nancy! Nancy, stay with me, sweetheart!" He shouted, lifting her eyelids to look into her eyes. "C'mon Nancy, don't die. Don't you die on me, Nancy!"

* * *

Anxiously fidgeting on his seat in the busy hallway of the hospital, Nick didn't know what he was more nervous about. He knew that Nancy was probably going to survive as the doctors hadn't given him that fake smile that they usually used, when they know a patient isn't going to last the night, but they don't want to tell you the truth. So he wasn't too nervous about that. And he knew that Grissom would probably have a change of heart in firing him once he heard about the rescue, so he wasn't too nervous about that either. But he did know that Ecklie would have other ideas and probably go ahead with the suspended leave without pay, which would only result in getting himself in trouble with Greg, as he was supposed to be the provider for his family.

He thought about calling home to apologise for not being there, but felt as though he had already let Greg down enough today and couldn't do it anymore.

Nick didn't return home until later that night, checking his girls were both asleep, before he slipped into bed with Greg, wrapping his arms around him. He wished that he could feel the babies moving inside of him, but they were still too small at this stage, barely taking up any room inside his lover's stomach. "I'm sorry, baby." He whispered against his neck, slowly waking Greg from his sleep.

"Nicky?" Rolling in his arms to look at him, Greg took one look at his glazed eyes then returned the embrace, clutching Nick's chest against his body. He didn't have to ask to know he had a bad day at the lab, so he waited until Nick was ready to tell him.

"They suspended you for that?" Greg asked surprised, once he had finished explaining everything to him. Nick responded with a nod, waiting for the look of disappointment to cross his lover's features. "That's crap; they can't do that to you."

"I know. I already tried to defend my actions, but apparently I make them look bad by savin' somebody while I was unarmed."

"I think you did the right thing." Greg assured him, cradling his partner's head against his shoulder. "Even if you are sometimes a little reckless in your decisions to save others, I think you did the right thing. You're a hero, Nicky."

"Is that why I got suspended without pay? Maybe I should do it more often."

"You're my hero." Greg corrected himself, pressing his lips to the older man's forehead. "Don't worry about it, Nicky. We'll get through it, the same way we always do, together."

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading, please review!**

**I'll hopefully have the next chapter ready by Saturday.**

**~ Holly**


	22. Chapter 22: Greatest Job in the World

**Thanks to Alisa for beta-ing!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Two: Greatest Job in the World**

Signing the cheque on the table in front of him, Daniel Sanders glanced up into his son's eyes then slid it across the table towards him, watching his eyes scanning over the amount, before the young man gulped hard. "It was part of your college fund anyway. You think I want my son and grandchildren having to cut back in things like food and clothing? I want you to have it. I didn't work hard for it to just sit there."

"You could spend it on the new children." Greg pointed out to him.

"We've got plenty left over for your younger brothers or sisters." He assured him. "This money is yours though. And I'm not taking it back. If Nick's too proud to take this, then you just send him round here."

"Mom's gonna give him an earful, huh?" Greg teased, knowing his father wouldn't be able to straighten Nick out with some tough love, as it wasn't his style. "You know, we're not doing so bad on the money front anymore. Nick's suspended leave is over and he has a meeting with all the bosses to let him back out into the field again. But I'm sure they will, because they'll easily see that he's a hero, so there's nothing to worry about." He pointed out to his father.

"Well, that's good then."

Gently rubbing his belly, Greg explained, "Once these twins are born, I'm gonna go back to work too. Danielle will be starting school soon, so it'll just be these little ones to worry about. We could hire a full time Nanny for the kids or something."

"No you won't." Jean overheard the conversation, stepping into the room with her granddaughter in her arms. "You can't hire a full time Nanny to look after the children. It wouldn't be fair on them. Why can't you just stay home and take care of them? A lot of men do it now days too, honey."

"Because, Nick isn't the bread winner and I hate making him take on extra shifts to take care of us all." Greg explained to her. "Besides, with me working too, he won't have to take on so many shifts and we'll get to see each other more often, and I like working, I love my job. It was kinda nice having him home for his suspended leave, even if he was a grouch. I love spending time with him; I don't want to only see him between shifts. He's gonna be my husband soon and I wonna spend the rest of my life with him."

Reaching his hands out for his daughter, Greg smiled as his mother reluctantly handed her over to him then pecked a kiss to his cheek. "Goodbye sweetheart, don't forget about the meeting with the adoption agency woman." She reminded him.

"I know, I know." Greg smiled at her, climbing to his feet with Danielle against his side. "I've already rescheduled my therapy session, which Nicky refuses to let me quit to save on money."

"Good, you need that." Jean smiled at him. "I mean, not that you're not right in the head or anything, but you do bottle up a lot of the emotions and hide in this humour. You get that from me."

"I don't bottle my emotions. You wonna see bottling, you should try and get Nick to talk about his feelings."

Daniel helped Greg with his sweatshirt, stuffing the cheque he had written for him into the pocket. "I told you, I'm not taking it back. If you tear this cheque up, I'll just have to wire the money to your account." He warned him, helping him out to the car. "It's your money, Greg. I've always wanted the best for you."

"Okay." Greg unwillingly agreed to taking the money, giving his father a hug, before he carried Danielle out to his car. He waved his parents off as he backed out of the driveway, wondering if Nick would be awake yet, so he could spend some time with him before he headed off into work again.

* * *

"I learn. I learn." The toddler insisted, pushing her older sister's hands away, so she could reach for the puzzle pieces for herself. Libby smiled as she watched her baby sister moving the puzzle pieces around with her little hands, while whispering to herself about which animals were on each of the puzzle pieces.

"Here you go." Greg handed Libby her plate of curry, before he dropped onto the sofa with his own, reaching for the remote to turn the television on. "What do you wonna watch? I've personally had enough of Tinkerbell, the Little Mermaid and all those little princess films." He smirked, resting his plate on his protruding stomach, as he handed Libby the remote.

"I don't know, I kinda liked that Lady and the tramp one, with those cute dogs." She grinned, joining him on the sofa.

"That one made Nicky cry the first time he saw it." Greg giggled, making room for Danielle beside him, as she climbed onto the couch with one of her stuffed animals in her arms. "This little one fell asleep before all the good parts though, didn't yah? No you won't like this, Munchkin. Too hot." He explained to her, as she pointed to his dinner. "You already had your dinner. You're still wearing most of it." He smirked, pointing to the stains down her clothes.

"One of my mother's boyfriends once said that means you enjoyed your food." Libby pointed out to him, finally settling on one of the discovery channels, showing koala bears in their natural habitat. "When's Nick coming back?" She queried.

"Any minute. He's got a meeting with all the bosses or something about what he did..."

"Saving that woman's life from her husband?"

"Yeah, but what he did coulda got him killed and it was kinda against the rules, especially since he was on desk duty." Greg pointed out to her, more concerned about Nick's safety then the rules. "Even though he did save Nancy's life, he put himself and the victim in danger by going over there unarmed and he waited until the suspect was out of sight, before he even called in backup."

"No good deed goes unpunished." Libby remarked. "My Mom woulda said that's why she never does anything nice for anyone."

"Well you know that's crap, right?" Greg double checked, watching her nodding her head. "Nick will get off easy though, because they know he's a good guy. He risked his life to save a woman who spat at him. A part of me wishes he didn't, but I'm glad he did, because that's who he is."

"Daddy." Danielle pointed towards the hallway, shuffling forwards on the couch to run and greet him.

"Hi, baby." Nick swept her up into his arms, giving his fiancé a wide smile, as he heard everything he said about him from the doorway. "Hey." He waved to Greg and Libby. "Where's mine?"

"Oh we're fine Tex, thanks for asking." Greg smirked, laughing as Nick was always thinking of his stomach. "Yours is in the oven."

"Thank you." Nick winked at him then carried his baby girl off to the kitchen, reaching for his own plate of food from the oven, before he joined his family on his sofa.

"So, how'd it go?" Greg asked him as he sat down beside him. "Did it go okay?"

"Yep, I'm back on regular shifts as of next week, back in the field where I belong." Nick assured him, positioning Danielle to sit between them, so he could rest his plate on his lap. "But I'm still off for the rest of the week, if anybody wants to spend any time with me." He smiled, looking at the three of them beside him.

"I have school." Libby pointed out to him. "And you said I could go over Casey's on Friday."

"Well tomorrow I have my therapy session and then, I have that interview thingy with the adoption agency. But I'm free Friday." He assured him. "You can hang out with Danielle all day. I was gonna drop her off with my parents before I went to therapy, but you can take her for the day."

"She doesn't have plans of her own?" Nick smirked, feeling rejected by the other two members of his family.

"Well actually, tomorrow morning she has her Baby Dolphins class." Greg remembered, watching his fiancé looking at him wide eyed, as he thought he was making it up. "I'm serious. Every other Thursday is Baby Dolphins class at the centre. I told you about it the other month. They introduce toddlers and young children to swimming. If you start em early, they're bound to be better swimmers as they grow up. You just need to bring swim shorts and a towel for you. I already packed her bag, it's on the dresser."

"You want me to swim with a load of little kids and their Mom's?" Nick asked him surprised, feeling embarrassed already.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. My Mom was gonna take her anyway."

After catching sight of the puppy dog look on his baby girl's face, Nick inhaled a deep breath, before he agreed to take her, not wanting to break her little heart.

* * *

After waving goodbye to his fiancé the next morning, Nick made his way off into the kitchen again, watching Danielle eating her small pieces of strawberries and the cheerio's from the bowl in front of her, all with her hands. The sleeves of her spotty pyjamas were covered with red strawberry juice, while her front had soggy cheerio's stuck to it, but he couldn't help but smile, as the little messy monster still looked adorable.

"You know, there's a perfectly good spoon just sittin' there, baby." He pointed it out to her at her side.

Danielle shook her head side to side then reached her sticky little fingers out for another piece of strawberry, stuffing it into her hungry little mouth. He listened to her adorable baby babbled words, as she held up one of the cheerio's to him, then stuffed it into her mouth with the others.

"Nick, can I get a ride to school? I forgot to set my alarm." Libby suddenly entered the room, pointing out the time to him.

"Um... yeah, one second. Lemme get Danielle ready." Nick let her finish the last few strawberries then lifted her from her chair, carrying her through to her bedroom to get her dressed. He dumped her sticky pyjamas into the laundry hamper then gave her sticky hands and face a wipe with a soft baby wipe.

After changing her out of the diaper she had slept in, Nick searched her drawers for something for her to wear, finally settling on a jersey frill dress in a baby blue colour. He grabbed her a cardigan, some socks and trainers, before he carried her out to the kitchen to sit her down on the counter, while he put them on for her.

Libby handed him his truck keys then patiently waited for him to grab the baby seat and things, before they could finally step out the door and get into the car. "Where's Greg today?" She queried, climbing into the passenger seat, while Nick strapped Danielle into the back.

"Eh... this mornin' he's at his therapy session. He picked an earlier appointment, because he's goin' out with his parents to meet with some... adoption agency woman. She wanted to meet Greg, before they started introducin' Greg's parents to some children that would be suitable for their home." He explained then climbed into the front seat, checking everyone was strapped in, before he set off in the direction of Libby's school.

Stopping at the school gates, Nick watched the other teenagers waving goodbye to their parents as they climbed out of their cars, while the few teens that actually had their own cars were showing them off to their girlfriends or sorting out their windswept hairstyles in the rear view mirrors, before they entered the building of judgement.

"Hey, do you want me to pick you up after?" He queried, watching Libby checking she had everything in her bag.

"Umm... yeah, okay." Libby nodded to him, zipping up her bag.

"You gotcha lunch?" He asked, just as she climbed out the car. Libby gave him a slight nod then closed the door, waving him off. "Okay, bye." He called after her, watching as she stuffed the headphones of her MP3 player into her ears, entering the school building. "You gonna ignore me when you get to that age?" He asked the small figure in the back of the car, smiling as she gave him a cheeky giggle.

* * *

"Hey . . . hey, Libby . . . are you going to the dance?" Darci ran up beside Libby, clutching her books against her chest. "Since it's not the prom yet, my Mom suggested that we go shopping this weekend for simple dresses. Halle's coming with me; you're totally welcome to join us. I mean, if it's okay with your Dad."

"I'm not going." Libby simply answered, watching her friend's surprised reaction. "You know how much I hate teenage social gatherings and I can't dance and I definitely don't wear dresses. Dances aren't essential; they're just stupid events that pretty girls look forward to, because they're too dumb to look forward to actually graduating and getting the hell out of this place."

"I'm sorry; did you just call me dumb?" Darci frowned at her, folding her arms across her chest. "Dances aren't dumb events for pretty girls. They're fun for you and your friends, oh but that's right, you've been hanging out with Casey more than us lately, so you'll probably be hanging out with her."

"Are you jealous? Casey and I just have more things in common with one another." Libby pointed out to her. "Besides, she didn't ditch me when I told her I was moving away to live with my gay father and his boyfriend."

"I didn't ditch you." Darci protested, stopping in front of Libby with her arms folded across her chest and a pouty look on her face. "You didn't invite me to your birthday party. I should be ditching you, but I didn't."

"I didn't want you making your comments around my Dad and his boyfriend." Libby pointed out to her former friend, stepping around her to reach her locker. "And besides, it was my first birthday with my Dad and I wanted it to just be a small crowd."

"So you invited Casey and not me? I've been your friend since kindergarten and you forced me to miss out on your sixteenth. Well that's it; you're not invited to mine!" Angrily turning away from her long time friend, Darci stormed off down the hall, pushing Halle away from her as she tried to stop her.

"Fine." Halle mumbled to herself, making her way over to Libby. "What's her deal? Did you turn her down on the dress shopping idea, because I only said yes to shut her up. I'm going over to my father's that weekend anyway, so I won't be anywhere near the stupid dance."

"Lucky you. There's no way I'm going to a stupid dance." Libby grabbed the books she needed for the day, then turned her head to look down the hall, as she suddenly heard her name being echoed through the corridor.

"Oh great, look who it is." Halle mumbled, getting a scowl out of Libby.

"Hey, Libby!" Casey appeared, holding her new boyfriend, Glen Bakers forearm as she rushed towards Libby. "Our little dance party is all set up. Jared and his band are having a practice session, so I offered them a practice session around my house and Tommy's older brother can get us beer. My parents are gonna be out all Saturday, so we'll all set. Hey, Halle." Casey casually waved to the girl beside her, ignoring the look across her face, as she was used to it from everyone lately. "C'mon Lib's, Glen here is gonna walk us to chemistry."

Before Libby could say anything though, Casey grabbed for her arm, dragging her away from another friend.

* * *

"This won't be so bad, right?" Nick asked his toddler, climbing out of the truck with her in his arms. "You won't laugh at your old man, will yah?" He grinned at her, carrying her over to the entrance, where a young woman was sat on the brick wall surrounding it, gently brushing her child's wet hair. She lifted her gaze to smile at the young father and his own little girl, before she returned to what she was doing.

Nick slowly entered the building where he saw two more mothers, having a chat over their children's next play date, while the boys ran around their legs, shooting at each other with noise making ray guns in their hands.

"Can I help you, sir?" The young woman behind the counter asked him.

"Eh... yeah, I'm here... I mean, we're here," He indicated towards the child in his arms. "For the Baby Whale... or fish thing."

After giggling softly, the woman asked, "Do you mean the Baby Dolphins class, sir?"

"That's the one." He smiled at her.

"Changing rooms are right through there." She pointed him in the right direction. "The keys to the lockers are in the doors; make sure you take them with you to the pool. And I'm sorry, but there's no change table for babies in the men's room. Other single fathers have complained to the manager about it though, so it might be upgraded if there's any money left over from the next budget meeting."

"Thanks." Nick smiled at her again then carried Danielle off towards the men's changing room that appeared to be completely empty. He selected one of the lockers at random then sat Danielle down on the bench, feeling oddly nervous about entering a class full of mothers and their children, while he was the only father.

After changing both himself and Danielle into their swim suits, Nick lifted her into his arms with his locker key around his wrist, holding her close against his bare chest as he stepped out to the pool area, where all the Mommies were holding their own infants. He gulped hard as he was the only grown man in the area then joined the group, just as the teacher, a warm smiled young lady called for their attention. She gave them all the safety instructions first, then checked everyone was happy putting their babies in the water again, before she told them to slowly enter the water with their babies facing them.

"Hello, Danielle." A woman with a young boy stepped up beside Nick, shaking the little girl's hand in her own. "You must be Nicky," She presumed, giving him a warm smile. "Greg talks about you all the time. I'm so glad you finally decided to bring your little girl along. I'm Alyson and this is my son, Toby." She introduced him to the gapy toothed little boy against her chest.

"Hi." He smiled at both at them, allowing the ladies to enter the water first, before he did, feeling Danielle clutching him tighter as the water surrounded her tiny body. Danielle slowly began to splash her hands in the warm water around her, giving out an excitable giggle, making her father smile wider.

Nick no longer felt embarrassed by being the only man in the class, instead he wished that he had been to all of her other classes with her, just to see the wide smile on her face that he could see right now.

The teacher then instructed the parents to show their children how to blow bubbles in the water, teaching them not to inhale when their heads were under the water. As Nick followed the instructions, he could feel Danielle's tiny heartbeat pounding against his own that only made him smile again.

* * *

"Here I was getting all excited to be taking my grandchild to her swimming class and you go and cancel on me last minute." Jean complained, handing her son his plate of tuna salad. "Just please tell me that you didn't screw up this meeting with the social services woman. You know that weird thing you do."

"What weird thing?" Greg frowned at her.

"That... cute but very annoying overtalking thing that you always do." His mother chuckled softly, taking a seat opposite him at the table. "Don't get me wrong, it's very cute, but you didn't do it in the interview, did you?"

"No." Greg assured her, shaking his head. "She just asked me some questions about what you two were like as parents. How you were with me growing up, how I was doing and a few questions about what I'd be like with a younger brother or sister." He explained to her, smiling as his father finally entered the room. "Of course I told her how great you both are. With your strong willed, over protectiveness and Dad's warm open heart and I told her about Nana and Papa Olaf too. I swear she was jealous of me from everything I told her about you guys."

"Aww, thank you, honey." Jean grinned at her son. "But that still doesn't explain why you forced Danielle to ditch me."

"I didn't force her to ditch you. Nicky took her today. He's been off work since he was suspended, and he wanted to spend some more time with his little girl." He explained, watching both of their surprised reactions. "What? He's a good father to her. He can take her to her Baby Dolphins class."

"Oh, I wasn't saying anything, honey." His mother shook her head. "I was just picturing Nicky in tight swimming shorts with all those young mothers." She giggled, giving her husband's hand a gentle tap as he looked at her surprised. "Of course you would look so much better, honey. I just meant..."

"I got what you meant." He mumbled, resting on his elbow against the table. "See, this is the one problem with your son bringing home boys." Daniel pointed out to his son.

"I'm sorry. I'll pick an ugly, butter ball one next time, Dad." He joked, giggling as mother gave him a shocked look. "I'm kidding, Mom. Don't tear your hair out over the wedding preparations. Nicky and I are gonna be together forever." He assured her.

"Good, because the wedding's all set for the tenth of April."

* * *

Laughing softly as his daughter gave out an excited squeal; Nick lifted her from the ground into his arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead, before he turned her in his arms to place her on the ladder again. Danielle eagerly climbed the ladder, shuffling forwards on her bottom to the top of the slide. She stomped her little feet on the plastic surface of the slide a moment, before she gave out another excitable shriek, sliding down the slippery surface into her father's arms.

"Again!" She declared.

"Again?" He chuckled, as she had already done it fourteen times in the past few minutes. "Aren't you gettin' hungry yet, baby?" He checked the time on his watch, carrying her round to the ladder again. "We have to go and pick up your sister in an hour. We better getcha lunch before then."

"Okay." Danielle climbed the ladder again, waiting for Nick to position himself at the bottom, before she slid down into his arms again. She continued the same routine for another few minutes, until Nick decided to stop.

"C'mon then sweetie, let's go getcha some lunch." Her father carried her off into the house, positioning her against his side as he searched the cupboards for something to eat, but soon realised that he had to shop, as they were empty. He checked the fridge next, finding strawberries, grapes and cheese that Danielle instantly pointed to, giving out a whimper of frustration, as he didn't immediately pick it up. "I got it. I got it." He smiled at her, reaching out for what she wanted. "You get that big beautiful brain from your Daddy, you know."

"Aww, talking about me again, Tex?" Greg appeared behind him, giving him a wide smile as he turned to look at him. "Have you had a good day without me?" Stepping around the counter, Greg gave his fiancé a big hug, followed by a kiss, before he kissed Danielle on the forehead.

"We have actually." Nick nodded, handing Greg his baby girl. "That swimmin' class wasn't so bad. I met your friend... eh... Alyson."

"Oh yeah, she's really hyper, isn't she?" He smirked, cuddling Danielle against his chest. "She's always so upbeat and high about everything. She wanted to arrange a play date between Danielle and Toby, but I was afraid she'd give the kids whatever she's taking."

"She's just a happy person." Nick defended her, pressing a kiss to Greg's cheek. "I'm glad you're home. How was your day?"

"Therapy was boring. She didn't really tell me anything, as usual. She just nodded a few times; asking how things were and how Libby was settling in, stuff like that. She said the conflict between you and Libby..."

"There's no conflict." Nick protested.

"Of course." Greg smiled at him. "But she said the conflict between you and Libby, probably has something to do with the boundaries that you've given her. When she was with her mother, she did everything for herself and she could do what she wanted, whenever she wanted to do it, but now with you, she has rules and people doing things for her, she's gonna test those limits. Julie said it's gonna take her some time to get used to the rules and being a kid again, but she said you shouldn't worry about it too much. And the meeting with the social services woman, I think I blew her away. She was ready to move in with my parents right away."

Nick chuckled softly, putting his arms around Greg's waist. "Well you could sell the Pope on smack if you wanted to, baby." He smirked. "I've gotta go pick up Libby from school in a minute, you wonna come with?"

"No, I'm good. I wonna hang out with my baby." He smiled at him, bouncing Danielle in his arms to make her giggle. "Were you just fixing lunch?"

"Yep, I didn't forget, she just wasn't hungry earlier, but she did have some crackers after swimmin', so I didn't starve her." The Texan assured his fiancé, stealing one last kiss, before he grabbed his car keys and made his way off to the front door. "Bye baby, I love you."

"Bye, I love you too. And I know you'd never do that, Nicky." Greg called after him, waving him off, before he turned to fix Danielle some lunch. As he sat Danielle in her chair for lunch, he remembered that the cheque his father had given him was still in his pocket, reminding him that he hadn't yet told his fiancé about it. His therapist had told him that Nick probably wouldn't accept it because it was as though his father was saying that he was incapable of looking after his family, but Greg knew that his father wasn't like that, he just wanted to make sure they had everything they needed for when the twins arrived.

* * *

"I am all tapped out." Jean sighed, dropping the profiles of sample children they had been given onto the bed beside her. "How are we supposed to know which child would be a right fit for us? Some of these children have been abused so badly, that they can't be put in a home with a newborn. I can't believe all the screening tests they give us too, when some of these foster parents are caught abusing or molesting them. Why bother being a foster parent if you're just going to do that?"

"Maybe this isn't the right time to be looking at these."

"I'm fine, Daniel." She pointed out to him, brushing her hair back behind her ears. "I can look at profiles of abused children and still have a healthy baby. This one's more lively than Greg and you remember that he had breathing and placenta troubles at this stage."

"I remember." He nodded to her, remembering the fear he had of losing his son after the doctors told them that Greg's placenta had erupted. "I just mean that maybe we should save the adoption things for after the baby's born." He suggested.

"And what right do they have calling a beautiful little girl like this mentally retarded?" She blurted, without even listening to him.

"It means..."

"I know what it means." Jean interrupted her husband, rubbing her hand across her pregnant stomach. "I can't get a single one of these children out of my head and this is just a first sample pack. I was thinking of naming this little one Rebecca if it was a girl, but now when I think of the name Rebecca, I just think of this poor little girl who raised her three younger brothers from the age of six. She had to search for food in trash cans for them, while their mother was shooting up."

"Maybe this isn't the right time to be looking at these." Daniel suggested, moving them off the bed. "We knew this was going to be hard from the beginning, especially with the pregnancy and our son being pregnant at the same time. It's too much stress."

"Too much stress is what Gregory is dealing with right now. They should have never postponed the first wedding day. It's going to be so much harder on him this time. Nick almost left him alone before. He was going to make him abort Danielle, so he could go back to his old life with that woman who used him as a babysitter. How do we know he won't do it again?"

"Because he's happy with Greg." Daniel pointed out to her. "He wouldn't be planning all this if he wasn't. He's even assured me that he'll never break Greg's heart. He even introduced us to his daughter from a past relationship, because she needs a family too. I trust this one, Jean. Nick's the best there is for our boy. You can even see it in his eyes when he's round here."

* * *

"Hey," Nick greeted his daughter, pushing the passenger side door of his car open for her. "Was there a game on or somethin'?" He pointed to the parents and people with banners and things coming out of the gym.

"Yeah, boys basketball. We lost, but we got out of afternoon lessons to watch." She smirked, taking her seat. "It was pretty funny too, the parents were shouting at their kids to pass and things. The coach was the only one not shouting, because she's only a temp and not really sure what she's doing. Our last coach up and moved to California, we're playing his team next week." Libby reported, pulling her seatbelt on over her shoulder. "I never get the point in playing Highschool sports, none of them really like it, it's just their way to get into college or please their parents."

"True, but sports is fun too." Nick pointed out to her. "I played Highschool baseball and college football. My father wanted me to play football in Highschool like my brother did, but I loved baseball, so I went for what I wanted."

"And it makes you look cool to all the girls right?" She chuckled, setting her bag down on the floor by her feet. "Everyone in Highschool is so superficial, even the teachers." She complained, waving to Casey as she saw her climbing into her boyfriend's car.

"I wouldn't be your age again for all the money in the world." Nick smiled at Libby. "No offence, I just mean... everythin's all about status, from fashion, style, brains, popularity and all that other crap. I'm so glad all that's behind me now."

"Tell me about it." She mumbled.

"Everythin' okay?"

"Yeah." She sighed softly. "Actually, Casey's having a party at her house over the weekend and I really wonna go." Libby flashed her best smile at him as her father directed the car off towards their house. "I won't drink, do drugs, have sex or anything like that, I swear. I just wonna hang out with my friends."

"That's comfortin' to know." He smirked, pulling his truck into the driveway of their house. "Does Casey's mother know about it, because I shouldn't let you go to a party that the parents don't even know about."

"They know." Libby gave him a nod, but he could easily see through her lie. "C'mon Nick, how many house parties did you have when you were my age?"

"None." He lied to her, leading the way towards the front door. "And I certainly didn't ask permission from my parents to go to a house party."

"So you'd prefer that I didn't ask?" She giggled, stepping into the house with him. "At least I'm being responsible and asking you. It's not going to be a huge house party anyway, just a few of us who aren't going to the dance."

"I don't understand, why aren't you goin' to the dance?" The confused father asked, as he locked the front door, smelling the scents of roast chicken in the air. "Doesn't everybody like dances? I thought girls especially do?"

"I hate dances. They're so seventies . . . and I just don't wonna go. I hate the girly girls that go to them too." She explained, continuing the pleading look. "But I really wonna go over to Casey's. Her mother's a total prude anyway, it's not like there's going to be any alcohol or drugs in the house. Please Daddy!"

"Don't call me Daddy to get what you want." He scolded her, unable to control a smile as he stepped into the kitchen to see what was cooking. "I'll think about it. It's not until next weekend, right?"

"Weekend after that." She corrected him.

"That settles it then, you can't go." He answered, making her pout. "It's my weddin' day." He reminded her. "Saturday the tenth?" She nodded. "Well that's our weddin' day. You can't go."

"But Nick, that's so unfair!" She shouted, folding her arms across her chest. "Why do I have to be at your stupid wedding anyway? I'm not even your _real_ daughter. You've already got your real daughter to be your flower girl and your friends as bridesmaids, I'm not even important to your wedding."

"Yes you are." Nick almost shouted back at her. "You're very important, and you're goin' . . . to the weddin', not the party." He corrected himself, just in case there was any misunderstanding on that. "Thank you for askin' me, but no you can't go. And I don't wonna hear anymore about it." He warned her.

Instead of swearing at him like she wanted to, Libby stormed off to her room, slamming her door shut to show her frustration.

When the coast was finally clear, Greg stepped out of his bedroom, looking towards Nick in the kitchen, as he held Danielle against his chest. "Sorry." Nick apologised, grabbing himself a beer from the fridge door to cool himself down. "I guess you heard everythin', so I don't have to explain it to you."

"I heard." Greg nodded, making his way over to Nick. "And before you ask, yes I think you were a little harsh, but I think you did the right thing."

"Then why do I feel like an asshole?"

"As my mother would say," Greg paused to smile, remembering his mother saying it to him. "Welcome to the world of parenting, where a 'no' feels like a ton of bricks just hit your father of the year award, but later on you'll understand that it was for the greater good."

"Yeah." Nick agreed, lifting his baby girl from Greg's arms to hold her tightly in his embrace. "But it's still the greatest job in the world."

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading, please review! And thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. I've been really busy lately with work and things, so I haven't had a chance to reply to a lot of my reviews, so I'll do it here.**

**Janet1982 – the paper in her backpack was to a dance, I did put what it was, but you must have missed it: **"Hey, what's this?" Nick held up the bright pink flyer to Libby.

"Nothing." Libby snatched it up from his hands, screwing it up in a ball, before she tossed it into the trash. "Just some dumb... dance thing."

**Noyu123, CMAli 1, CrazyLeex and Legomygreggo21 – Thanks so much for your reviews, I'm glad you enjoyed it!**

**Have a GREAT weekend! More on the way soon!**

**~ Holly**


	23. Chapter 23: What is love?

**Thanks to Alisa my beta! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Three: What Is Love?**

Preparing for his final date with Greg as a single man, as if he was going to a job interview, Nick anxiously adjusted the collar of his shirt, wondering why he was so nervous. His hands were sweating, his arms were shaking and his breathing was starting to hitch in his chest, only adding to his anxiety. The wedding day was almost here, making him more excited than he had been in years.

Instead of the traditional bachelor's party that came with a traditional wedding, Nick and Greg had decided that they would rather go on a date with each other, to spend the whole night doing anything they wanted with one another, instead of throwing a party to celebrate the last day of being single.

They couldn't believe how quickly the day had snuck up on them. It seemed like just a few weeks ago they were celebrating Christmas, now here they were at the beginning of April, getting everything ready for their wedding day that had finally arrived.

Nick checked his appearance in the mirror again, feeling his stomach doing a summersault, as his watch started to beep, signalling it was finally time. Nick had given himself plenty of time to get ready and get prepared, now it was finally time to take Greg out on the first and last date of the New Year, as an unmarried couple.

Collecting his partner from the Sanders family home, Nick felt as though he had gone right back to dating again. His heart was thumping heavily inside of his ribcage, and his palms started to sweat even more, as Greg made his way down the stairs in smart but casual clothing, and a nervous smile plastered across his lips. Through the shirt that Greg had decided to wear, Nick could now see the protruding bump of his lover's stomach, once again proving that there really were babies growing inside of him, making him look more beautiful than ever to Nick.

"Damn... you're beautiful, Greg. I shoulda brought a corsage." Nick teased him, feeling as though he was taking him out to prom.

"I just threw something on. You've seen me every day for the past... three years or so." Greg pointed out to him with a smile, accepting his fiancé's sudden advance, as Nick suddenly felt the need to hug him. "So, what's this big date you've got planned?" Greg queried, brushing his palm up and down Nick's spine, as the older man squeezed him a little tighter in his warm, musky embrace.

"You'll see." Nick laced his hand together with Greg's leading him off to the door to grab his jacket.

"Home by midnight!" Jean suddenly shouted, giggling as the two men turned to face her. "What? I never got to say it while you were a teenager, because you never went anywhere while you were under our roof. I just had to use it once. But seriously, take care of my boy, Nicky." She warned him, pointing her mixing spoon in her hand at him. "It's his wedding day tomorrow, and we didn't hire anyone for makeup to take care of those dark circles, cowboy."

"I will, Ma'am." Nick tipped his pretend cowboy hat in her direction then tugged his fiancé out the door, leading him down the driveway to his car. He held the door open for him like a perfect gentleman, then closed the door once he was inside.

The first stop was one of Greg's all time favourite places, from his early twenties. He never expected Nick to take him there in a million years, making him even more surprised. Nick gently tugged the younger man out to the dance floor, finally deciding to use some of those dancing skills he had acquired over the years on his boyfriend, for the first time.

"You've been holding out on me." Greg giggled, adoring his fiancé even more. "I never knew you could dance this good."

"You thought I was a terrible dancer?" Nick chuckled, sliding his hand to the small of Greg's back, to pull him closer against him. "Dancin' is the next best thing to sex. I always meant to take you before, but we just got busy, what with Danielle and everythin'." He whirled Greg around in his arms, supporting his partner's weight in his arms, as he caught him off guard. "Pretty good for an old hick, right?"

Gritting his teeth together, Greg tried to apologise for his outburst the other day, when he had called Nick an old hick for not wanting at least one tradition on their wedding day, that didn't involve a god who supposedly hated them. "I... I really didn't mean that, Nicky."

"I know." Nick assured him, touching their lips together for a light kiss. "None of that matters now, G. All that matters is the future. Our future. Just you and me . . . Oh, and our daughter Danielle . . . these twins . . . and now Libby. Oh, and your parents . . . and grandparents." He smirked, trying to remember if he had forgotten anyone else. "Can you believe that it was just the three of us at the beginnin' of last year? We've got a whole football team now."

"I know. But I definitely like the sound of the future, with all of us together." Greg smiled back at him, gazing into his partner's molten chocolate eyes, feeling even more in love with him than ever before. "So, do I have to wait and see what's next or are you gonna tell me?" He queried, weaving his fingers together with Nick's.

"Well, after I've danced you off your feet, I plan on takin' you out to dinner then we can go over to this luxury hotel suite, which Catherine managed to book us into. Thanks to a few of her contacts; where we can order room service, take a long bath in the Jacuzzi tub and maybe a little somethin' else." He rasped, sliding his hands down Greg's back.

"Mmmm, I can't wait." The younger man purred, pressing his lips to Nick's again, feeling as though they were the only two people in the room, and the date only continued to get better and better, leaving Greg feeling completely in love and connected to Nick, for the first time in months.

* * *

"Dinners Ready!" Jean called through the house, smiling to herself, as it was good to have a house full of family again.

Setting the various plates of food down on the table, Jean watched as her husband lifted their grandchild down into her chair then watched her parents fussing over which side of the table to sit at, while her new granddaughter, Libby just quietly took one of the empty seats, watching her new family taking their seats, before she reached for the napkin beside her knife and fork, to place it on her lap. She was still disappointed for missing out on her friend's party, but hanging out with Greg's parents wasn't so bad.

Jean smiled at them all, feeling a warm glow radiating through her body. "I'll do that." Daniel offered, taking the carving knife off his wife, to slice the meat for her, while she took her seat.

"You like pot roast, baked potatoes, carrots and salad, doncha Libby?" Jean queried, setting up a plate for Danielle.

"Um... I've never... I've never had pot roast. But I love carrots and salad." Libby nodded, watching the surprised looks around the table, as she said she had never had pot roast before, when in this family it was a regular meal.

"Well you'll love it. It's a lovely tender roast beef that'll melt in your mouth. You're not allergic to garlic, paprika or anything are you?" Jean queried, just to be sure.

"No, I'm not allergic to anything." Libby shook her head, taking one of the offered plates from Daniel, giving him a smile. "Thank you, Mr Sanders."

"You're welcome." Daniel smiled back, handing the next piece to his wife, to cut up for Danielle.

"Did your mother ever teach you how to make a roast or anything, Libby?" Nana Olaf queried.

"No." Libby shook her head, surprising the woman, as she had her daughter and grandson cooking as soon as they were in school. "She... didn't exactly cook herself. I used to cook chicken nuggets and things for my little brothers, but the instructions were on the back of the box for them," She smirked. "I can't cook anything like this. The best thing I can do is heat up frozen food."

"Me too. Toast is my speciality." Papa Olaf smirked, getting playfully slapped over the head by his daughter. "Ouch. What was that for?"

"Nothing." Jean sighed, finally giving Danielle her plate, as she was starting to squirm in her seat, getting hungrier by the minute. "Here we go, sweetheart. Make sure you chew." She warned her granddaughter, watching as Danielle immediately reached for the carrot and celery sticks with her bare hands, placing them on her serving table so she could eat them one by one. "Have Greg and Nick been cooking for you?"

"Yeah, they cook for me all the time. They practically insist that I don't make anything for myself, so we can all eat together." Libby smiled, as she took the bowl of salad from Nana Olaf.

"What's your favourite meal at the moment?" Jean queried, handing round another plate to her mother.

"Um... well Greg made this spaghetti pizza thing the other week, that I really liked. I loved this lime chicken thing we had before that." She remembered. "And Nick makes this cheesy egg bake thing, every couple of weekends. I like macaroni and cheese too. Greg said it was the first thing he learnt how to make."

"Oh yes." Jean grinned towards her husband. "Unfortunately I can't take credit for that one. When Greg was eight, I left him alone for a whole weekend with his father for the first time. I left readymade meals in the freezer for them to heat up, but unfortunately they ran out of meals by Sunday night. And the only thing Daniel's mother ever taught him to make was Mac and cheese. For months after that, my little Greg only wanted Mac and cheese, but I got sick of it after the first week and a half, so Daniel taught him how to make Mac and cheese for dinner for himself, until he became an expert at it, so we could have something else that consisted of better flavours." She giggled, handing round the roast vegetables. "I bet Greg didn't tell you that story, did he?"

Libby shook her head, giving her a smile, as she realised that all families didn't have unhappy memories in them like hers, like she used to think when she was a child. The Sanders family seemed to be filled with love and happiness since the very beginning.

After dinner, Jean wiped down the sticky tot's fingertips, while her mother and husband cleared away the plates. Jean lifted Danielle down from her chair once she was clean, sending the girls off into the front room, while they continued to clear away the things of dinner.

Libby watched them in amazement, as they didn't argue about it or complain that they had something better to do, they just helped each other to clear away everything as quick and as effectively as possible, without a single complaint or ill word against one another, like she was used to back home.

After everything in the kitchen was cleared away, Nana and Papa Olaf turned in for bed, while Jean went over her last minute wedding details, making sure everything for tomorrow was ready.

"Alright, that's the food, beverages, floral arrangements and everything finalized." Jean announced, taking a seat beside Libby on the sofa, with her long list of last minute wedding arrangements for her son's wedding. "I've got everyone's dresses, suits and things here. The DJ and everyone have been called, what am I missing?" She asked no one in particular, looking across the room at her husband, who was sat on the floor across the room with Danielle crawling around him, with a toy truck in her hands.

"Um... did Nick remember to pick up the wedding rings?" He remembered.

"Yep." Jean nodded, rubbing her kicking baby, as he looked over the list again. "I double checked the inscriptions and everything. Their suits are ready... Oh, that's what I forgot... A photographer." She slapped herself in the head, then looked at the clock. "Damn, it's too late to hire somebody now. No one's going to work on such a short notice. I don't even know any gay friendly photographers."

"We've got a camera." Daniel pointed out to her. "I could..."

Jean shook her head, "You can't be the photographer _and_ the father of the groom, honey. We'll have to find someone else, who isn't part of the main wedding party, because all of us have to be in the pictures. What about one of the lab crew, surely they know how to work a camera?" She giggled, remembering her long conversation with Greg's boss, Gil Grissom about the cameras they used, as it was the only thing they had in common. "Maybe my father could... but you know him, he'll probably end up getting his thumb in the shot or only taking pictures of peoples feet."

"I could do it, Mrs Sanders." Libby suggested, turning away from the movie on the television. She figured that she wasn't part of the main wedding party, just an extra guest, so it would be okay. "I know how to work a camera. And he is my... father."

"Okay." Jean smiled, then gently tapped her on the knee. "And how many times have I told you to call me Jean, sweetheart? We're a family now, Libby. You don't always have to call me, Mrs Sanders. It sounds so formal. Your father's marrying my son. You and Danielle are practically sisters, which practically makes me... well, it makes me your Nana too." She grinned, as she looked towards Danielle, her youngest granddaughter. "If you feel comfortable enough, you can call me, Nana Jean." She assured her new granddaughter.

"Okay." Libby smiled, "I've never had a Nana or anything before."

"Well I assure you, I'll be the best you ever had." Jean grinned then ticked off the photographer on her list, as her new granddaughter was going to do it for them. "Right then, that's everything. I'm going to have to pack a diaper bag for the little miss," She pointed over to Danielle. "Oh and the car seat ready for the car. You did check the reservations for the honeymoon suite, didn't you, Daniel?"

"Yes, dear." He nodded.

"Just checking. I don't know why they don't want to go on an actual honeymoon somewhere. I recon they'd enjoy it, much more than one of those Vegas hotel rooms that Nicky's probably processed a hundred times." She remarked, finally setting her list aside. "Oh the wedding day itineraries, where did I leave them?" She suddenly panicked.

"In my study." Daniel pointed. "I'm in charge of them, remember? You're supposed to be relaxing. Everyone's been called, everything's taken care of, and the boys are out relaxing before their big day, and so should you. You are the pregnant wedding coordinator, who needs to rest." He advised his wife, then checked the time on his watch. "Eight thirty, bed time, Danielle."

"According to Captain Texas." Jean sighed. "I used to keep Greg up until nine or something, so the bed time struggle was easy and painless, because of course by that time he passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow, so there was no energy left in him to argue." She smirked.

"Don't criticise his parenting in front of the children, Jean." Her husband warned her, lifting Danielle into his arms. "Libby, Nick said ten at the latest for you."

"Yes, we'll be up at six preparing the rest of the food and things, so make sure you get plenty of sleep." Jean added, enjoying parenting children who actually needed her for a change.

"I will." Libby promised, waving to her little sister, as her new grandfather carried her away to give her a bath, before bed.

Jean waved them off then turned towards her new granddaughter, giving her a wide smile. "So honey, how has it been living with two men? You know if you ever need any girly stuff that those men know nothing about; your Nana Jean is always available to help out." She winked at her. "Even if you just wonna get away from them for a while, there's always a room available upstairs for you. It can't be easy going from living with a mother to two fathers, who know nothing about the female reproductive system. You be sure to call me if you ever need a tampon fix and are too embarrassed to ask those two."

"Thank you, Mrs Sanders. I'll keep that in mind." Libby assured her, feeling a little embarrassed for talking with Greg's mother about that. "You know, Nick actually offered to give me an allowance to buy stuff like that. He told me never to embarrassed to talk to him about anything like that either."

"He did?" Jean looked at her surprised, never figuring Nick to be that kind of hands on with his parenting. "Well, just in case, honey. I'm always here for you. And it's Jean or Nana." She reminded her, giving her a smile as she climbed to her feet, heading towards the stairs to help out her husband with the bed time routine of their granddaughter.

* * *

"I miss my baby." Greg crashed back onto the large double bed in the hotel room, staring up at the ceiling above him, as he placed his hands on his stomach. "I've never been away from her for this long. Not even when I was in the hospital."

"It's been three hours, G." He chuckled softly. "And I assure you, your baby will be fine without you for a whole night. She'll be sleepin'; she won't even know you're gone." Nick shed his jacket then climbed onto the large bed, straddling Greg's hips. "You already called her twice to hear her voice. She loves spendin' time with her grandparents and she's got her big sister, Libby there with her, as well as her great grandparents. She couldn't be safer." He assured him, leaning down to his level to bring their mouths together for a kiss.

Closing his eyes, Greg lifted his hands to Nick's hips, pulling his body against him, to feel the weight of his body on top of his own. "Can you believe that waiter calling me, Mr Multi Personality?" Greg suddenly asked, pulling back from Nick's warm mouth. "Of all the nerve. That guys such an asshole, we shoulda complained to his manager before we left."

"Well Greg, you snapped at him about your water glass bein' empty then your meal not bein' spicy enough, oh and the dirty knife then you told him what an amazin' job he was doin'." Nick smirked, moving his hands down either side of Greg's body, towards his hips. "Who doesn't have a multi personality, anyway? Look at me. To Danielle, I'm god. Valerie, I'm the creep who knocked her up. To Libby, I'm the absent father. And my parents, I'm the disappointment. To you, I'm..."

"The love of my life." Greg finished his sentence for him. "Although, sometimes you are a god to me, like when you make me squirm." He grinned, tugging Nick back towards him, by the collar of his shirt. Greg joined their mouths together again, sliding his fingers through the luxuriously soft hair on the back of Nick's head, as he re-tasted every corner of his mouth. "I feel like I've been away from you for so long." He whispered, sliding his hands across the ripples of Nick's chest. "Promise me we'll never get this far apart again."

"I promise."

As Greg pulled him closer, Nick could feel the bump of his belly against his own stomach. It suddenly occurred to him that he hadn't seen Greg completely naked in a while, making him wonder how big the actual bump of his tummy was beneath all that clothing. He reached for the buttons of Greg's shirt, struggling to pull them open, as his mouth was preoccupied with Greg's.

"Need some help there, Tex?" Greg giggled, helping him with the remaining buttons.

"No . . . I just wonna take my time." Nick parted the shirt across his partner's belly like curtains, gently smoothing his hand over the bulge of his tummy that now looked as though Greg had swallowed a football or something, and it was stuck in his belly.

"What's up?" Greg queried, seeing the intense look of concentration on Nick's face.

"Nothin', I thought... you'd be bigger."

"Every first timer's disappointment," Greg teased him. "You watch those porn movies all through your youth, of course you're gonna be disappointed when you find a real man who isn't sporting a ten incher or even a foot long." He cheekily giggled.

"Not what I meant." Nick defended himself, tickling his fingertips into Greg's sides. "I meant the belly, G. You're... twenty one weeks, right? You were bigger than this with Danielle around that time."

"Doctor Simpson said that girls are usually bigger, indicating that these could be boys. And twins are usually smaller, because they grow so close together." Greg explained to him.

"But there's two of em, shouldn't they be bigger?"

"The Doctor said they're doing fine, so don't get me all worked up about it. He said that twins are usually smaller than singletons in the beginning, because they have to grow side by side, instead of getting all that space to themselves. He said I have to start packing on the pounds as I approach the end of the second trimester though, because that's when they really start growing themselves with all the baby fat and stuff. So don't worry about it, I could start having the growth spurts any day now. I already got this big in less than a week." He pointed out to him, then suddenly pushed Nick off him, so he could get up.

"Where are you goin'?" Nick asked him confused, wondering if he had offended him.

"I gotta pee." Greg announced, hurrying into the pricy looking bathroom, taking a moment to look around at everything, before he made his way over to the toilet. Once he was done, Greg stepped up to the sink to wash his hands, anxiously checking himself in the mirror, as he was feeling a little less than desirous in front of his fiancé in his current pregnant state.

Back in the bedroom, Nick removed his boots then turned down the bed, removing his shirt and jeans to get comfortable on the bed, while he waited for Greg to return.

Greg soon emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, making his way over to the bed, where his lover had stripped himself down to the tight briefs he always wore with his especially tight jeans.

"Someone's eager." Greg giggled, climbing onto the bed with him. "Did you stuff these briefs, or are you just very, very happy to see me, cowboy?" He rasped, wiggling his eyebrows as he leant towards Nick's lips, capturing them with his own. Moving his hand to Nick's groin, Greg cupped the bulge in Nick's briefs with his hand, feeling as though he himself was about to explode. "Mmmm, do you know how long it's been since we've had sex?"

"Around about . . . four or five months." Nick estimated, leaning back on his hands, as Greg moved his body closer.

"Were you counting again?" Greg queried, rubbing his fingers across the pouch in Nick's underwear. As his breath hitched from his throat, Nick just about managed to shake his head, feeling his eyes beginning to roll back into his head and the muscles of his thighs tightening. "You know that it had nothing to do with you though, right?"

"I know... the babies." Nick understood, lifting his gaze to look Greg in the eye. "I know that we don't always have to have sex to prove our love for one another, Greg. I wouldn't be marryin' you if I only wanted sex with you. And I know you were worried about losin' the babies, but you really don't have to be. The doctor assured us it would be okay after the first trimester, and not till the third trimester could it trigger early labour. That is if you want to." Nick explained, gripping his hands into the mattress either side of him, as he felt ready to burst.

"You know, we could do it another way," Greg suggested, nervously looking Nick in the eye, as he knew he probably wouldn't go for it. "That wouldn't be uncomfortable for me or cause any harm to the babies."

Nick gulped hard, suddenly feeling very vulnerable in front of him, making his voice croak, "Gr-eg, I've never..."

"I know, I know. You prefer to be the aggressor." Greg nodded in understanding, teasing his fingertips down Nick's length through his briefs. "Speaking from an expert in the bottom position though, it only hurts if the person on top is doing it wrong. And I know it kinda makes you feel vulnerable, but if you trust me, it will help you relax, and you'll feel the pleasure, rather than the pain. And trust me, I would never let you go through the pain I did, Nicky."

Anxiously biting his bottom lip, Nick struggled to explain, "Greg, I love you... more than I've ever loved anyone. But I just... I trust you and everythin'... but I can't."

"You don't even wonna try? It can only take two fingers to feel the pleasure, you know." Greg wiggled two of his fingers, watching Nick gulping hard at the thought of it. "Ha, you know Nicky; you're a very typical straight man in love with a guy. You're happy to be the aggressor, giving sex, but the mere thought of receiving it, sends your manhood into hiding, literally." He giggled, leaning forwards to steal a kiss from his lips. "It's not degrading to your manhood or anything like that. If it was, you wouldn't do it to me... right?"

"I don't think of it that way." Nick assured him.

"So, doncha wonna know what it feels like? They say the P-spot is the most pleasurable..."

"P-spot?" Nick interjected.

"Yeah, the prostate orgasm." He grinned. "The P-spot is the male equivalent of the G-spot. A P-spot orgasm is the most intense orgasm a man can feel." Greg explained, moving himself to straddle Nick's hips. "I can't let you go through your whole life without ever experiencing a P-spot orgasm, Nicky. You can reach the prostate with just one finger. I don't have to actually penetrate you to feel it."

"How come I've never heard about the... P-spot?" Nick asked, wondering if Greg had made it up.

"Because in the hetro community, the prostate is usually followed by the word cancer. Hetro men usually don't care for the word prostate, unless they're worried about cancer down there. It's considered a feminizing act to have your prostate stimulated too, which of course big het men won't tolerate."

"How do you know all this?" Nick asked, smiling up at him.

"Because... I'm a gay man interested in men, well one in particular." He winked at his partner. "I can stimulate your body into a pleasure you couldn't even dream of, if you let me. Don't hetro men learn everything they can about breasts, vaginas and G-spots?" Nick gave him a slight nod. "So, why doncha wonna try? What's so terrifying about experiencing a little pleasure?"

"Greg, I'm... I'm just..."

"Do you see me as weaker than you or something? You don't want to be feminized by an act that can degrade your rep as the top man?"

"No, that's not it." Nick shook his head then sat up straight, placing his hands on Greg's thighs, either side of his own. "I'm just... Shit, I never realised that before." He blinked a few times as realization washed over him.

Looking at him confused, Greg asked, "What?"

"I'm sexist." He blurted.

Greg blinked a few times in confusion, protesting, "Nicky, I never said that."

"I know. But I am. Look at my past relationships or my relationship with you. I'm not just sexist against women, but gay men too." He looked Greg in the eye then dropped back to the bed, draping one arm over his eyes. "That's what my father always used to say, the degradin' thing that you just said. If we cried, showed emotion or the sexual act that wasn't considered masculine, we were degradin', feminisin' or dirtyin' ourselves as somethin' less than men."

Greg anxiously bit his lower lip, feeling as though he was marrying an emotional wreck tomorrow. He just wanted to sexually stimulate his lover, the same way he had been doing to him for the past three years of their relationship, but instead of releasing the most intense orgasm he had ever experienced, he had released more of Nick's emotional baggage that he refused to deal with.

Finally removing his arm from his eyes, Nick asked his partner, "Is that how I always treat you? Do you feel that I degrade you in some way?"

"No, Nicky, I was just asking if that was how _you_ felt, and why _you_ wouldn't wonna try it. People think that this kinda sex is degrading to men, especially severely homophobic butch guys like your father, but it's not. You do it to me all the time, and I never complain, right?"

"Yeah, but . . . you don't have to if that's how you feel."

"I said that's how _society_ views it, not me." Greg corrected him then rolled his eyes, climbing off Nick's body. "Doesn't matter, just forget it. I'm too gassy and bloated for sex anyway. You wonna watch TV?" Greg grabbed for the remote off the bedside table, moving two pillows to the middle of the bed, as he lay down on his side, propping himself up to search the channels for something to watch.

Nick tilted his head back against the bed, wishing he could silence the thoughts in his head, so he could be closer to Greg, and trust him completely, but he just couldn't do it.

Watching the television over Nick's body, Greg suddenly asked, "Hey, I'm nearly five months, right?"

Nodding, Nick tilted his head to the side, looking his partner in the eye. "Yeah, I think so, you're twenty one weeks. Why?"

"Just asking." Greg shrugged, flipping through the channels. "Are you ready to go back to midnight feedings and tiny little people that need your complete attention again?"

"I am." Nick nodded. "Did you wonna start pickin' out names yet?" He asked, wanting to share some ideas with him or to do anything besides think about his fear of being dominated.

"We don't know the genders yet." Greg reminded him.

"We'll do what we did with Danielle; pick girl names and boy names." He suggested, looking into his partner's eyes. "Unless you wonna find out the genders at our next scan? It'll still be a surprise, but we'll know what clothes to buy and things like that. Doncha wonna know if we're havin' two little girls or two little boys..."

"Or one of each." Greg added, then thought it over a moment, before answering, "Okay. I guess we could. It would be kinda fun knowing what we've got. What names do you like then?"

"Well... I like Elijah and Ella, if we get one of each. For girls' names, I like Aidan, Jessie, Mia and Maria, but not together, because they're too similar. I like Alex for a girl or a boy. And Grace... um, I like Leah..."

"I like Leah." Greg interrupted him. "On my list of twin's names, I like it with Ava. If they're twin girls, Ava and Leah."

Nick nodded in agreement, "Ava and Leah Sanders."

"No Stokes?"

"I think after the weddin', we can drop the Stokes from everyone's names. Think about when Danielle starts school, she's gonna have to learn how to spell her long name, along with Stokes and Sanders. Double barrelled surnames are just too long for little kids. It'll be easier if we just cut down to one surname for everyone."

"And you wonna take mine?" Greg asked him, sounding surprised.

"Well yeah, do you want our kids goin' through their lives with the name Stokes, the air of disappointment . . . or the name of Sanders, the lovin' and carin' family that would do anythin' for them?" He queried, leaning on his side. "I wonna take your name too. I'd rather be a Sanders then a Stokes. How confusin' is it gonna be to have a Stokes, four Sanders' and a Larson all in one house anyway? I wonna be a real family. The Sanders family."

"Okay." Greg smiled, reaching out for his hand. "You really wonna do that? You know technically, taking another man's name is _more_ degrading than having your prostate stimulated." He pointed out to him with a smirk.

"I don't think its degradin'." Nick assured him. "Can we get back to the names?"

"Okay, we've agreed on girl's names, Ava and Leah. If you really like them?" Nick quickly nodded. "Okay then, now we need boys names. I like Topher and Taylor, Ethan and Aidan, Jacob and Joshua or Bryan and Brady... but actually, thinking about it... my favourite name for a boy is Oliver. I've always wanted an Oliver. Do you like Oliver, it's okay if you don't."

"I like Oliver." Nick nodded to him.

"If this one's a boy," He rubbed his hand across the smaller baby pressing against his ribs. "I wonna call him Oliver."

"The little one?" Nick smiled, placing his hands on Greg's tummy. "What about the other one?"

"Tell me your names first. What names have you picked out for boys?"

"I kinda like the traditional cowboy names, like Avery and Colton. I like Sean and Dean, Bryce, Darrell, Carson, Austin..."

"Ooh, no." Greg suddenly shook his head. "I had an ex-boyfriend called Austin; I couldn't name my child that."

"Okay, we'll steer clear of the ex's." Nick smiled at him. "I like Jack, Hadley and... Harrison... oh, and Archer." He remembered the other names he liked. "But I like Oliver too. Maybe we could find somethin' to pair it with if they're both boys."

Greg gently lifted Nick's hand from his side, placing it over his stomach to feel the fluttering movement of the larger baby in his abdomen "Can you feel that?" He asked.

Nick waited a moment then shook his head, "No. Have you felt them kick yet?"

"Not hard kicks," Greg shook his head. "Nothing like Danielle, but I can feel light movements, like a fluttering movement. Move your hand here." Greg moved his hand closer to the top of his belly, looking into Nick's eyes to see if he could feel the other baby. "Do you feel that?"

"Kinda." Nick nodded, trying to remember what it was like to feel Danielle kicking against his hand. "Feels like you have trapped wind or somethin'." He smirked.

"Maybe I do." Greg giggled.

Rethinking over the thoughts in his head, Nick turned his head to face Greg again, looking at the beautiful man beside him, who was willing to degrade his own masculinity to carry his children. "Greg, I don't wonna be a homophobic butch guy. I don't wonna become my father, in any way. I'm sorry for..."

"I don't blame you for being like this, Nicky. Your parents... your father in particular couldn't deal with his own failures, so he put his high expectations on his children, wanting them and you to be better than him or perfect little carbon copies, because if you were anything less, he'd feel like even more of a failure for raising imperfect children. It's simple psychology. You don't even have to be a shrink to see it. I definitely don't blame you for being like this. You were pressured to be a very butch masculine male. It's only natural that you'd be sexist or a little bit homophobic, even in your own relationship with a man."

"Did your therapist tell you that?"

"No, my years of studying you." Greg giggled. "I don't love you because you're perfect, Nick. I love you _for_ your flaws. I wouldn't change a thing about you. You were raised to believe that butch men are inherently superior, so you've picked up on that kind of behaviour in the bedroom... and out of the bedroom. I don't blame you for it though, I love you for it." He assured him, gently brushing his fingertips across the cowboy's cheek. "But you could be a little more open minded. It's probably partly my fault that you've stayed in this macho role, as I made you the bread winner, so you felt the need to be more manly then..."

"No I didn't." Nick interrupted him, struggling to sit up straight in front of him. "I don't feel more masculine then you. I don't think that because I'm the bread winner right now, that you're less than me or anythin' like that. If anythin', you're _more_ of a man than me, Greg."

"Huh?" Greg looked at him confused.

"Look at you Greg, you're amazin'. You're confident, open minded, your body's goin' through this complete metamorphosis and you couldn't be stronger. You manage to hold it together through pretty much anythin', even your emotional meltdowns; you're still the stronger one out of the two of us. If I didn't have you in my life, I'd be a wreck."

"Now that I'll agree with." Greg grinned at him. "You should totally add that to your vows."

"What makes you think I didn't already?" Nick smiled then asked himself, "How is it that I always end up ruinin' everythin' over my stupid fears? I almost made you get rid of Danielle because I was afraid about what was gonna happen or what people would think of us... or think of me. Now I'm ruinin' the night before our weddin', because of my stupid insecurities." Rolling onto his back, Nick stared up at the ceiling above him, thinking of all the other times he had ruined an intimate moment with Greg, over his emotional state of mind towards being dominated.

"You haven't ruined anything." Greg assured him. "This is good for us, talking about this stuff. I'm not gonna force myself on you, I just wanted you to experience a little bit of pleasure."

"Have you ever done it before?" Nick nervously queried, looking round at Greg. "To another... you know..."

"Technically... no. Bad time to find out your fiancé is a virgin, huh?" He smirked.

"Just like an emotional meltdown about degradin' my masculinity the night before our weddin'?" Nick smiled round at him. "I never even discussed this with you the first time we did it. I just assumed you'd let me do it to you, but you've never once tried to do it with me."

"Because you've never let me. We don't have to do it today; we can wait until after the wedding or until you're actually ready. I told you, I don't wonna force this on you. Don't feel that you have to, just because I wonna try it either. You can just keep laying there and looking sexy all night for all I care." Greg mischievously grinned, as his partner was still only in his tight briefs, while he was practically fully clothed. "Just don't nark it till you tried it, Nicky. I could even show you how to do it yourself, if you really don't feel comfortable with me doing it the first time."

Placing his hands on his bare stomach, Nick stared up at the ceiling a moment then turned to look into the eyes of the man he trusted most in the world. "Okay Greg, I want to."

"Nicky, I expected you to take _time_ to think about this. Weeks or months, not just a few seconds because you think it's what I want to do."

"That's not the reason I said I want to." Turning onto his side, Nick propped himself up on his elbow, looking into his lover's molten chocolate eyes. "I don't want to do it, just to prove that I'm not my father either. I want to do it because I trust you, and I wonna be close to you. I love you, Greg. Please, I want this."

After clicking off the television, Greg tossed the remote onto the end of the bed then leant on his elbow beside Nick's head, seeing him immediately tensing as he got closer. "I love you too, Nicky. Which is why I won't do it, you're not ready. Love making is supposed to be an intimate, celestial experience, between two people who love and trust each other. Not something to prove that you're not sexist or slightly homophobic. I won't do it, until you're really ready for it. But... we can do something else." He suggested.

"Like?" Nick queried then shivered as he suddenly felt Greg's fingertips brushing the inside of his thigh.

Giving the usually dominant partner a wide smile, Greg whispered, "Foreplay is a much better art in expressing love."

* * *

**There it is, I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Just in case some of you hadn't already noticed, I am English, so my spelling is english too. I do write mom or mommy the american way in most of my stories, but words like... cheque, colour, flavour, neighbour, favourite or aeroplane, I spell them the english way, so my spelling isn't actually wrong, it's just English :D**

**Hope that clears that up for everyone. Thanks so much for reading, please review!**

**~ Holly**


	24. Chapter 24: Wedding Bells Are Ringing

**Thanks so much to my beta, Alisa!**

**Thank you guys for all of your reviews so far. I'm glad that you enjoyed the last few chapters!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Four: Wedding Bells Are Ringing**

Checking back in the mirror again, Jean asked herself, '_Was everything ready?'_ She had spent months, no years planning this very special event for her first born. The only child she thought she was ever going to have, was finally tying the knot to the man he loved, moving on with his life into adulthood. She remembered that on the day of her wedding she was a nervous wreck. She already had a child with the man she was marrying, just like her son, and she had thought about her decision carefully and thoroughly, so she could assure herself that she wasn't _just_ marrying him for the baby.

And she wasn't.

Turning her head towards the door as she heard a knock, Jean smiled as her husband stepped through it, in his new smart suit, that he had bought especially for this occasion. They had taught their son how to talk, how to walk, watched him grow and learn through school. They had taught him about life and responsibilities, and now he was making that final step out of the parent's nest, into his own little world to do the same with his own children, and they couldn't be prouder.

"Honey, are you ready?" Daniel asked, watching his wife smoothing her hand across the twenty nine week bump of their baby. "Is everything okay, honey?"

"Yeah." Jean nodded, giving him a wide smile. "Do you think we'll do just as good a job with this one, as we did with Greg?" She anxiously asked him.

"Of course, we're pretty much experts on the raising of our own children, honey. I don't think that we could have possibly done a better job with our, Greg." He assured her, grabbing her wedding planner checklist off the bed for her, while she quickly adjusted the few stray tendrils of hair from her updo hairstyle. "C'mon, the cars ready to leave. It'll look bad if the guests are later than the grooms." He smirked.

"Right. Did you load Danielle's diaper bag and the spare outfits and the rings?"

"Yep, all take care of." Daniel assured her, pecking a kiss to her cheek. "Nick and Greg are supposed to be the nervous ones, not you." He grinned.

Jean smiled back then grabbed her purse, following her husband down to the lobby of Sanders' house, where Nana Olaf was just styling Libby's crimped hair, into a half up, half down updo, suitable for a princess. While Nana Olaf's thinning grey hair had made it into a bun, hidden beneath a traditional mother of the bride hat with a matching dress.

Nana Olaf had also managed to weave Danielle's French braided pigtails with flowers, pinning them back from her face with the flowered headband that matched her dress, making her look positively adorable.

Taking deep breaths, Jean reminded herself that this was her son's special day, and her tears weren't needed, especially now. "Okay everyone, stand together. I want a picture before we leave." She grabbed one of the cameras from the side table, setting it on a stand, so they could all be in the picture.

Daniel lifted his granddaughter into his arms, straightening out her dress as he rested her against his side. He stood where his wife told him to, watching her arranging the others, before she hurried back to the camera to set the timer, taking her own place beside her husband. She instructed everyone to smile then double checked the picture to make sure nobody blinked, before they could finally load into the car and leave for the big day.

* * *

"I miss, Danielle. You don't think that she'll think that I abandoned her, do you?"

"No. Hold still, I don't wonna cut you." Nick warned his lover, struggling to closely shave Greg's jaw line, as he was shaking from his nerves. "Do you think your Mommy wants your face covered in little bits of toilet paper for the pictures?" He grinned, tapping the razor against the edge of the sink, once he was done. "There we go. Your pregnancy beard is officially shaved. Can you come and get dressed now? We're gonna be late."

"I think I'm too fat to fit my suit though. Wish I could take off the pregnancy birthday suit for one day." Greg wiped off his face with one of the fluffy towels, following Nick into the bedroom.

"Your mother sowed the elastic waist onto your trousers, they'll fit. And I happen to think your pregnancy birthday suit is very sexy." Nick assured him, unzipping the wrapping from Greg's suit for him. "You know, after this weddin'... we should really go and getcha some... maternity clothes, Greg. You're gonna stretch all your good shirts."

"Well then, we will." Greg snapped his fresh boxers into place, taking his trousers from his fiancé's hands. "Along with the baby stuff." He added, tugging his trousers up to his hips, as Nick looked up at him surprised. "I'm almost five months. It'd be safe to buy stuff now, right?"

"Yeah, Greg." He nodded, helping Greg with his shirt. "It's been safe for a while now. I just wanted to wait, until _you_ were ready for it." Nick popped the last button into place then assisted him in tucking his shirt into his pants. "See, it fits. And you still look sexy." He smiled, stealing a kiss from his minty lips.

"Only just. And stop kissing me, otherwise the kiss after our wedding vows won't feel that special, because you've been doing it all morning." Greg warned him, grabbing the tie, so Nick could tie it for him. "Hey, what were you doing the night before your wedding with Tanya?" He suddenly asked.

"You wonna talk about that now?" Nick straightened out Greg's collar, adjusting the tie around it, before he began to loop it. "Greg, that's all in the past."

"I know. I'm just curious. You've been married before, I haven't."

"My first marriage was nothin' special, I try to forget it every chance I get. As far as I'm concerned, there was no first marriage. This is my first marriage with you." Nick whispered to him, looking him in the eye.

"Please." The younger man pleaded.

"Okay, the night before that weddin'... I was out drinkin' with Warrick, regrettin' ever gettin' her pregnant, and I was even thinkin' about runnin' away and just forgettin' about all of it." He remembered.

Tilting his head to the side as Nick adjusted the knot his tie around his collar, Greg asked, "Why didn't you?"

"Um... I don't know." Sighing softly, Nick folded Greg's collar back down then handed him his waistcoat. He took a moment to think about it then replied, "The baby... I guess. I thought havin' a baby would make my life meaningful; maybe make my father love me. Do you see how pathetic that sounds? I don't wonna talk about this right before _we_ get married, Greg. _Our_ weddin' and _our_ marriage will be nothin' like that. There's a big difference. I'm in love with you. I wonna spend the rest of my life with you, and even if we didn't have the children to keep us together, I'd wonna stay with you forever anyway."

Smiling as he buttoned his waistcoat, Greg whispered, "I wonna stay with you forever too."

"Good." Nick stole another quick kiss, giving his annoyed lover a wide smile, before he checked the time on his watch. "Speakin' of, the future is catchin' up to us. We've got three minutes." He warned him, handing him the suit jacket to put on, before he put his Papa Olaf's cuff links in for him. "Okay, that's everythin'. Getcha shoes and socks on."

"In that order?" Greg teased, dropping onto the edge of the bed. "I wonder if my Mom's holding it together. She's been planning my wedding since birth."

"I wonder if my Mama's purgin' her sins yet." Nick smirked, pulling his suit jacket on, once he had tied his bowtie. "Gwen, Vicki and Kayla said she was really quiet on the flight. I'm surprised she even wanted to come."

"She probably wants to make amends." Greg suggested, tying his shoelaces. "You told her about Libby, right?"

"From the start." Nick nodded, double checking everything. "I mean after I told you, of course. I don't think she told my Dad though. It'd just give him another reason to be disappointed in me. Can we stop talkin' about all this crap now?" Nick suddenly snapped. "I don't wonna be in this mood for my weddin' to you. It should be a happy day, not a depressin' memory lane one."

"Sure, we'll just add that to the list of things _not_ to talk about." Climbing off the bed, Greg straightened out his suit jacket then fiddled with his hair in the mirror, while Nick packed up the rest of their things from last night. "You ready to go now, Nicky? We're gonna be late for our own wedding at this rate."

"One second."

* * *

"No, no... not until later, sweetheart." Jean giggled, stopping Danielle from throwing the flower petals from her basket onto the floor. She took the basket off her hands, holding it up high where she couldn't reach it, so they'd still have some flowers left for the ceremony, as she had already scattered the entrance lobby with a few handfuls. "Where are they?" She asked, looking towards her husband, who responded with a shrug. "Libby, did you photograph the guests coming out of the cars and into the chapel?" She called over to her.

"Yep, I got all of that." Libby assured her then tilted the camera in her hands to the side, kneeling down in front of Danielle to get another picture of her. Danielle stood still for one picture then reached her hand out for the lens, making her big sister giggle.

"No sticky fingers on the lens, sweetheart." Her grandmother warned her.

"Hello, Mrs Sanders." Warrick greeted the loud mouthed woman that he could hear halfway down the block, as he made his way into the reception area.

"Hello, Warrick. Straighten that tie." She immediately pointed it out then directed him to pose for the camera, before she handed him Nick's wedding ring for Greg. "Don't lose this now."

"I won't." He assured her, playfully patting Danielle on the head, as he stepped around her to enter the chapel. It wasn't at all what he was expecting for a gay wedding. The walls were white wash with stained glass windows, long rows of mahogany wood benches, decorated with a few white flowers to brighten the place up a bit, leaving a floral scent to replace the old and musty one of the old and musty chapel. "Hey, Sara." He greeted her, admiring the dress she was actually wearing, before he took a seat beside her. "Jean approve of your outfit?"

"Yes. And for some weird reason, she tapped her nose and said 'no one will suspect'." Sara furrowed her brows together, as she still didn't understand what she was implying by that statement. "Did you meet Nick's other daughter?"

"The photographer? Briefly. I have this weird feeling that I've seen her before though, I just can't figure out where."

"Maybe you just see Nick in her?" Sara suggested, checking she still had the ring to Nick, from Greg in her hands. "Is that Nick's ring to Greg?" She queried, spotting the box in his hands. Warrick nodded, opening it up, so she could take a look. "What does his one say?"

Plucking the ring from the box, Warrick turned it in his hands to read the inscription on the inside, "Grow old along with me . . . the best is yet to be . . . yours always and forever, Nick."

"Aww, that's sweet, especially coming from Nick. I never knew he was that romantic." She grinned then lifted Greg's out of the box, to see what he had written to Nick. "My heart will be your shelter . . . My arms will be your home . . . My life began with you. Greg." She suddenly felt as though she was going to choke up, as that was even more beautiful then she would have expected from Greg. "I can't believe Nick and Greg are getting married." She suddenly complained. "I'm gonna be the only single person in that whole lab by the end of this year."

"Hey, I'm not married." He pointed out to her, snapping the box shut, once he was sure that the ring was in place. "I don't have a girlfriend at the moment, so it's highly unlikely that I'll be married by the end of the year."

"Yeah, but you're a guy. It's okay for guys not to get married; you're considered cool bachelors or something else, while women are just middle aged spinsters who can't tie down a m..." Sara stopped her ranting, as Danielle suddenly wandered towards them.

"Uncle, Wawwk." She reached her hand up to him.

"Hey, Munchkin." Warrick greeted her, still finding it cute how she couldn't say his name. Leaning forwards in his seat, Warrick gently tickled her, filling the chapel with her cheerful giggles, instead of the chilling silence that was almost icy cold, due to the very conservative Stokes family on the other side of the chapel. "I'm definitely getting one of these though." Warrick abruptly stated.

"The dress? I don't think it'll suit yah." Sara teased him.

"No, a kid." He laughed, snaking his large hands beneath Danielle's arms, to lift her onto his lap. "Catherine's a Mom, and I know she loves it, even though it's this supposed big burden. Even Nick and Greg are parents now. Well they have been for a while now, but they're more into their roles now. I would love to have a kid someday. Even though I never had a father, I recon I'd be a pretty good one."

"Oh yeah, and whys that?"

"Grissom. He's my role model." Warrick smiled round at Sara. "C'mon, you're telling me you don't see the fatherly instincts in him? Whenever one of us gets in trouble or hurt, he goes out of his way to protect us or help us... just like I'd expect a real father to do."

Grimacing at the thought of Grissom being her father, Sara reached out Danielle's small little hand, amazed at how tiny it still was. "It's hard to believe that we were all ever that small. Can you ever remember being completely dependent on someone for everything, even going to the bathroom?"

"Nope. She's a kid Sara, not another species." He chuckled softly, as she was studying Danielle as if she was some alien object. "You're a little bit of Nicky and a little bit of Greggo, aren't you?" He smiled at his niece.

"I'd like a kid one day... I'm just too afraid I'd screw it up."

"You can't be that bad. You are after all the god parent to this little one."

"Along with you. I guess we both already kinda have a kid, huh?" She smirked then looked up as Mrs Sanders suddenly appeared beside them, looking for her wandering grandchild. "Hi, Mrs Sanders. Greg told us you were pregnant, congratulations."

"Oh, thank you, sweetheart." She smiled at the butch girl her son used to be in love with, before she lifted her grandchild from Warrick's arms. "It'll happen for you one day, Sara. If not naturally, then there's always artificial insemination. It's just as good as the real thing." She winked at her then carried Danielle back through the chapel, noticing Nick's mother looking at her enviously, as she had her grandchild in her embrace.

As soon as Danielle spotted her Uncle Grissom and Aunt Catherine entering the front double doors, she struggled in Jean's embrace then pulled away from her, once she was down on the floor, hurrying towards them.

"Hello, little one." Catherine greeted her, lifting her up into her arms, admiring the dress she was wearing, before she noticed the look in Greg's mother's eyes, that told her she was still resenting her for the little lab explosion that could have cost her son his life.

"Daddy!" Danielle suddenly exclaimed, spotting Nick climbing out of one of the cars.

"Oh, finally," Jean sighed, checking the time on her watch. "Everyone inside, take your seats." She ushered the guests through the double doors, taking Danielle off Catherine's hands, before she went in. She then turned towards the doors to scold the boys for being late, while Danielle was reaching out for them, happy to see them. "What are you two playing at? You can't be late for your own wedding."

"We're two minutes late." Greg pointed out the time, leaning away from his mother, as she instantly started to fuss with his hair and straighten his tie. "Mom, don't."

"It's all sticking up." She defended herself.

"It's meant to." He backed away further, using Nick as a shield from her. "Can I have my baby now? Just don't touch the hair. I spent ages getting it just right." Greg warned her, taking a step closer to take his baby girl off her hands. "Hello, my baby. Did you miss me?" He smiled at his baby, clutching her tightly in his embrace.

Smiling at his waving daughter, Nick pressed a kiss to the back of her little hand then made his way over to Libby, checking the pictures she had taken so far, of the arriving wedding guests and a few of the cars and to check that she didn't still hate him for cancelling her party plans with her friends.

"Libby, could you get one of Nick, Greg and Danielle together, before they go in?" Jean asked her, checking on the time again, as they were running a little late.

"Actually, can we have Libby in the picture? You don't mind do you, Mom?" Greg asked her, adjusting Danielle against his other side.

Libby welcomed the chance to actually be in a family wedding picture with her father, especially when the request came from her father's boyfriend. It really felt like a eureka moment for her.

Once Jean was satisfied that the light in the room was just right, she quickly adjusted their hair and clothes, before she took a few steps away from them, setting up her camera for the shot of perfection of the sweet little family. "Everybody smile!" She beamed a wide smile of her own in their direction, coaxing them on, before she finally took the shot.

"Can we do this now?" Greg impatiently asked, too fired up from the exhilarating kiss Nick had given him in the car ride over, to wait any longer to marry him.

"Yes." Jean sighed, handing Libby back the camera. "Oh, and I'm sorry to disappoint you, Nicky. But your mother has informed me that she won't be walking you down the aisle like we planned, she briefed me on a few of the details, but I'll spare you the pain and just let the two of you walk down together, so no one will notice." She spoke softly, gently patting him on the arm. "Don't worry, honey. You don't need her to walk you down to make this special."

"I know." Nick reached for Greg's hand beside him, lacing their fingers together, so he could feel the full support of his new family, rather than thinking about the constant rejection from his old one.

"Okay, good luck. I love you both." Jean pecked a kiss to her son's cheek then Nick's cheek, before she lifted Danielle from her son's arms, setting her down on the floor beside her. "You finally get to do your little job now, sweetheart." Jean smiled at her, then gave them the go ahead to start the music. After adjusting the toddlers dress, so it was perfect, Jean handed her back her basket of flower petals then gave her a gentle push in the right direction, so she knew which way to walk.

Jean, Daniel, Nick and Greg watched from the doorway as Danielle deposited a few of the red and white rose petals down the aisle, stopping every few seconds to get another handful from her basket, before she took another few steps. They could hear soft murmured coo's coming from their guests, as she unhurriedly made her way to the front, in her own enchanting little fashion.

"Tell me you got some pictures of that." Jean implored her older granddaughter, wanting to relive that adorable moment forever.

Libby quickly nodded her head, showing them the pictures she did snap of her baby sister, who she was quickly beginning to love more than the baby brothers she grew up with.

Before they wasted anymore time, Jean linked arms with her husband, walking down the aisle with him towards the front. Libby followed them down to get a few pictures of them then turned back towards the door, to wait for her father and Greg to make the final few steps into their wedding.

Once everyone else was in place, signalling that it was now time to walk, Greg gave Nick's hand a gentle squeeze, before they followed in their steps. Walking through the gathered members of their families and friends, Nick began to relax even more as they reached the front, where Libby was very professionally taking photos of them and their wedding guests.

"Welcome!" The LGBT community female priest started, as Nick and Greg finally stopped at the front. "Good Morning, family and friends. We have come here today, to celebrate the wedding of Nicholas Parker Stokes and Gregory Hojem Sanders. On behalf of Nicholas, Gregory and their families, thank you for joining us. They are delighted that you have come to share in their joy, during their special day. By your presence, you celebrate with them. The love they have discovered in each other, and your support in their decision to commit themselves to a lifelong relationship."

Jean started to sniffle already, making both Nick and Greg look round at her.

"Gregory Hojem Sanders and Nicholas Parker Stokes are taking a step together and celebrating their love with the sanctity of marriage. And that is why, we are here to share their love with one another and give our blessings and wishes to them for a beautiful and happy marriage." She proclaimed. "Gregory and Nicholas have written their own wedding vows to one another, which they would like to share with you, and each other." She finished with a smile, watching Nick retrieving his crumpled piece of paper first.

Nick cleared his throat before he began, remembering what Greg said about focussing on him, so he wouldn't be so nervous. "Greg . . . I never thought that I could ever love anyone, as much I love you. I've learnt to love you, just by you bein' open and honest with me. I want to thank you for your trust and support . . . and know that I will always trust and support you in return. Thank you for the courage in your heart for takin' a chance with me, and givin' me the most beautiful gift in the world." He directed his eyes towards Danielle, smiling as she gave him a little wave. "Above all else, Greg . . . you were my light when life was dark. Wherever the path of our future leads us, it leads us together. And I am proud, from this day forward, to be called your husband."

Jean sniffled again, pulling a handkerchief from her purse, so her tears wouldn't streak her face.

Unfolding the piece of paper he had stuffed into the pocket of his trousers, Greg inhaled a deep breath, attempting to stay as calm and together as Nick had. "Well... Nicky, what can I say that I haven't already said to you a thousand times before?" He smiled at his partner. "I've given you my mind, my body, my heart and my soul. You're the treasure in my heart. I will always be there to support you through tough times, encourage you, comfort you, defend you and care for you unconditionally, as we together face the unknown journey of our future. Until I met you, I never believed that anyone could love me more than my mother..."

Papa Olaf immediately burst out laughing, getting slapped on the knee by his wife.

Greg smiled at his mother then turned back to Nick, continuing where he left off, "It's difficult for me to put my feelings for you down on paper, because mere words cannot express how deep I love you. I love you because you're the one who completes me. As we face the future together, I promise to be forever by your side." Greg finally finished, squeezing his eyes shut a moment, as the tears from them were threatening to spill.

"May I have the rings?" The Priest asked Sara stood behind Greg, as she was his best man. "Now Gregory, repeat after me . . . 'I give you this ring, as a symbol of our vows and my undying love'."

Greg took the ring from Sara then took hold of Nick's hand, repeating, "I give you this ring, as a symbol of our vows... and my undying love." He smiled, sliding it into place on Nick's finger.

"And Nicholas," She smiled, watching Warrick handing Nick the ring from his box. "Repeat after me . . . 'I give you this ring, as a symbol of our vows and my undying love'."

Nick took hold of Greg's trembling hand, giving the younger man a smile, before he reiterated the speech for the exchanging of the rings, in his raspy Texan drawl, "I give you this ring, as a symbol of our vows and my undying love."

Once the ring was finally on place on Greg's much chubbier digit, the priest finished, "These rings in which you have presented one another with, have no beginning and no end, sealing the vows of your marriage and symbolising the purity and endlessness of your love for one another, which will never cease. By the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you Gregory Hojem Sanders, and you Nicholas Parker Stokes to be married. You may now kiss your husband."

Libby snapped another picture of them with their wedding rings on then took a step closer to get their first married couple kiss on camera, which she was sure her new Nana would appreciate. Nick and Greg finally pulled back from one another, gracing one another with wide smiles, as if they were seeing each other for the first time in a new light.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you for the first time, Mr and Mr Sanders." She announced, shocking Jillian Stokes like a slap in the face, as her son had just taken another man's name, which was the biggest sin in their family, as the men were supposed to carry on the Stokes name. The mere sound of the name against her son's was very displeasing to the conservative woman, sending her storming straight out of the chapel, while the other guests were still congratulating the happy couple.

The wedding guests collected their direction sheets from Daniel then made their way off to the Sanders' house, where the large garden had been set up with tables, floral decorations and a large gazebo, coating a portion of the garden in some shade as it was a hot day. Jean and Nana Olaf immediately started serving the champagne, ushering the guests through to the garden to get them seated.

Once Nick and Greg were done greeting and thanking all their guests, they took their seat at the main table, suddenly feeling even more nervous than they did at the ceremony, as this part of their wedding wasn't scripted anywhere.

Gwen was the first to raise her champagne glass to them, before she lightly clinked her knife against it, getting everyone's attention. "Hello everyone. In case you don't know me, I'm Gwen Stokes, Nicky's big sister. I am so happy today, to be able to finally congratulate my baby brother, and my new brother in law, Greg. I have always believed that there was someone for everyone out there. I always wondered what would happen if we were to meet the wrong one, but Nicky's path definitely led him to the right one, his soul mate." She smiled at her little brother. "The first time I met Greg, I was sure that he was the right one for my little brother. Anybody could see that they belonged together, from their friendship alone. I wish you two the greatest happiness, for the rest of your lives. Before I start to ramble and bore you all to tears, here's to the grooms," She raised her glass a little higher. "Nick and Greg... this is just the beginnin', the best is yet to come." She winked towards them.

Everyone raised their glasses to toast them. "To Nick and Greg!"

Greg grinned widely round at his new husband, feeling as though his emotions were about to explode, when his mother suddenly decided to stand up, before anyone else could, making him feel nervous and embarrassed already.

"Good afternoon everyone. I'm Jean Sanders, Gregory's mother. I wanted to thank everyone for joining us today in celebrating the marriage of my... well I can't say only child anymore, so I'll say first born." She smiled, smoothing one hand across her pregnant stomach. "When we were originally planning this, Gregory was begging me not to get drunk while making the mother of the groom speech, so I wouldn't embarrass him. But I wasn't going to do that anyway," She assured him, through a proud smile. "I couldn't be prouder of my son then I am right now. You've turned out to be a wonderful son, and you've not only found yourself the perfect soul mate, but you've built yourself a wonderful family, that I hope you both cherish dearly. In marrying Nick, we welcome our new granddaughter, Libby into the family and Nick's sisters Gwen, Vicki and Kayla, who have joined us today from Texas, to be here in support of their little brother."

Jean paused to look towards Nick's sisters. Vicki was sat beside Catherine, with her older sister Gwen next to her and Kayla was the other side of Catherine, with Danielle sat on her lap, as she was missing her own toddler, Jimmy-Ray from back home.

"And to Nicky, welcome to the family," Jean raised her glass of orange juice towards him. "You are a wonderful blessing to the Sanders family, and I'm so glad that my son found you. You are the sweetest and the kindest, most goodhearted person I have ever met, and I'm proud to call you my son in law. Separately you're both wonderful people, but together you take life to a new level. My husband and I wish you both the best for the future, may your friendship and love for one another grow every day." She raised her glass, just as her tears started to spill down her cheeks. "I'm so proud of you both."

Daniel finally climbed to his feet, pulling his blubbering wife into his arms, while everyone was distracted toasting the happy couple. Greg climbed to his feet next, making his way round the table to hug her for such an amazing speech, nothing he was expecting from her.

Once the speeches were done, they started to hand out more drinks and the food that Jean and Nana Olaf had spent all morning making. Nick sat Danielle down on his lap once Kayla gave her back, where she soon dozed off to sleep against his chest, while the celebration continued.

"Smile for the camera, Greg."

"Gimme that camera." Greg grabbed for the camera off Libby's hands, turning it around on her, as she tried to take a picture of him again. She shielded her eyes from the flash, giggling as he pried the camera from her grip, to capture another shot of her.

"Am I going to have to separate you two?" Jean asked them both, handing Nick another glass of champagne, as he couldn't get up from the baby asleep in his embrace.

"Nope." Greg shook his head, handing the camera back to Libby, so she could look at the over exposed shot of the side of her face and her hand. "She keeps blinding me with the camera."

"She learns from the best." Jean winked at her then smiled as her husband came over to them, with their present to them in his hands. "Nicky, Greg... we have a little something for you two. I hope you won't be mad."

Daniel handed the envelope over to Greg, watching as his son excitedly ripped it open, to see what they had got for them. "What is it, G?" Nick queried, seeing the surprised expression on his face, as he looked at whatever was in the envelope.

"Tickets." Greg held them up. "To Orlando, Florida. Hotel reservations for Disney World." He grinned with excitement, feeling like a kid on Christmas, who just got the best present in the world. "Are you serious?" He asked his parents, wondering if it was a cruel joke.

"Yeah guys, this is too much." Nick agreed, taking a look at the reservations for himself, realising that they had paid for the four of them to go.

"Yes we're serious, and no you can't give them back. We'd be very offended if you didn't want to go." Jean informed them, giving them all wide smiles. "We signed you up for the honeymoon package. You leave on Monday and you come back on the following Monday, giving you plenty of time to enjoy all the resorts." She explained, smiling at the four of them. "After everything you lot have been through, you all deserve a break. This is our treat."

"Okay then," Nick handed the tickets back to Greg, gently smoothing his palm up his sleeping angels back. "I guess we're goin' to Florida."

* * *

**There it is, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks to CrazyLeex, CMAli 1, SunshineAndDaisies, almostkaity, janet1982, Lindz and Kat-Sakura for your reviews on the last few chapters.**

**Thanks so much for reading, please review and let me know what you thought!**

**~ Holly**


	25. Chapter 25: Sweet Child Of Mine

**Chapter Twenty Five: Sweet Child of Mine**

"Well, after Greg, I had years of asking... why me? I couldn't even get pregnant after my first born. Not even a false alarm or anything. We tried the whole fertility treatment thing, only to lose a few," Jean gulped at the memory, before she continued, "Then we just gave up, figuring that we were only allowed the one child. Now years later, we finally decided to look into adoption, and all of a sudden I'm pregnant with my own egg, and my husband's sperm. Now if that isn't a sure sign that somebody changed their mind about me parenting more children, we just received a call the other week, inviting us to a picnic in the park to meet some children available for adoption . . . yes, yes I am. I'm thirty weeks this week."

Greg watched his mother twirling her fingers through the phone cord, as she explained her story to another one of her friends. He turned towards the stairs as his father finally came down, greeting him with a warm smile.

"Hi, Greg." Daniel immediately hugged him, noticing how much bigger his stomach was today, as he hadn't seen him in a week, since the wedding. "Nice honeymoon?"

"Yeah, it was good." He nodded. "I'll tell you about it on the drive over."

"Okay. I'm ready, just let me go and grab my jacket from the den." He pointed, then disappeared into the other room, searching for where he had left his jacket.

"I know, Susanne said the same thing." Jean chuckled into her phone, leaning back against the counter as she felt her baby kicking again. "Yes . . . Oh yes, we tried all the treatments the testing and everything. Apparently we had a one in a million chance at getting pregnant again. It was a miracle that we even got pregnant with Greg . . . Greg, he's gonna be twenty nine this year." She chuckled into her phone. "I know . . . big age gap, but he's not exactly around the house much these days. He just got married you see. Yes... yes, I'll have to show you the pictures. I'm sure he'll have some from his honeymoon to show me too." She winked in her son's direction, as he scowled at her. "He can be the advisory big brother. Yes we have actually . . . we've got the new baby's room all set up, and we've bought the bed and things for a second child. If the adoption agency turns us down because we're pregnant, I can keep the stuff for my grandchildren though . . . that's right . . . yeah. Yes, I've been told it can take up to years for the whole adoption process to go through, but somehow we were bumped onto this list to attend the grand picnic in the park. I told you about my friend Paula from P-FLAG didn't I? Well she works very closely with an organisation that helps gay, lesbian and transgendered people adopt children. Yes . . . maybe your son should check them out. I have the number around here somewhere." She searched the thousands of pieces of paper scattered in front of her, smiling as Greg handed it over to her.

"Okay, ready." Daniel announced, pulling his jacket on. He pecked a kiss to his wife's cheek then ushered his son off towards the front door, ready to drive him off to his doctor's appointment, as Nick had taken Libby and Danielle out for the day.

"Is Mom still calling absolutely everyone in her phone book about this adoption thing?"

"Well you know your mother when she's excited, Greg." He smirked, holding the door of his car open to his son. "What week is this?" He queried, climbing in the other side.

"Twenty three. Mom's seven weeks ahead of me, remember? They're each about the length of a banana at this stage, and every time I sit down, I can feel one of them against my rib cage. It's really uncomfortable." He squirmed in his seat, feeling the pressure right then.

"Is that normal?" Daniel anxiously bit his lower lip, backing the car out of the driveway.

"Apparently." Greg nodded. "This woman from day care said that whenever one of her twins kicked, she felt as though her lung had been crushed or something. It all has to do with the position the babies are laying in. You know Dad; you really didn't have to offer to go with me."

"Of course I did. I couldn't let you go alone, and I haven't seen you in a week. Your mother's going to her birthing class with her new best friend... Paula. Nick's out with his daughters, and I wasn't exactly doing anything anyway. It'd be nice to spend some time with you."

"Even if we're not doing the _usual_ father – son activities?" Greg smirked, rolling down his window as he needed some fresh air. "Thanks Dad, I can't believe that Nick forgot all about it and promised the girls he'd take them out instead of being with me."

"Aww, you'll get used to it. Your mother wanted to do everything with you when you were little, she always forgot about our anniversary dinners and things. It's like I had to have an appointment to spend any time with either of you, as you were joined at the hip." He smirked, directing the car off towards Greg's doctors office, instead of his wife's like he was just thinking about doing. "How's Danielle doing with the news of a little brother or sister? Or two even." He corrected himself.

"Okay, she asked why we couldn't get a kitty instead of two babies though." Greg chuckled. "And she said she doesn't want me to have two babies if I'm always tired. I told her she'd have somebody new to play with, and Nick explained to her that I'm gonna get big and fat the other week, and she suddenly started asking every person who looked fat if they were having one or two babies."

Daniel chuckled, grinning widely at his son, as it sounded just like something that he would have said at her age. "So, the honeymoon? You didn't really tell us much over the phone."

"Well, none of us slept at all on the flight over. We spent the first few hours exploring, and Nick managed to get us lost, but he wouldn't admit it, because he didn't want to feel stupid when there were huge signs everywhere." He giggled at the memory. "We got a Disney World honeymoon certificate when we checked in, which Nick wants to put in a frame once we finally unpack everything. We went on a few of the rides, then Nick took us out for dinner. Then we spent the next three days at the water parks and on the various rides. The sea world adventure park was Libby's favourite. She loved the Wet 'N Wild slides, we could barely get her out of the pool long enough to eat. And Danielle has a new obsession. She's no longer interested in cats, she wants an alligator. Ever since we watched them feeding them, she's become obsessed."

"I bet Nick would love to have one of those." He laughed.

"Yeah." He laughed. "He was actually really scared of them. He wouldn't let Danielle down and he wouldn't let Libby feed them. It was awesome though, they all just gathered around like a family, waiting for the food to be thrown to them, and they let this one kid... I think he was seven or something. They let him stroke one of the smaller crocs, but Nicky wouldn't let his kids near it. And we saw these massive turtles, dragon thingy's and birds..."

"So you all enjoyed it then?" He laughed at his over excited son.

"Yes, you guys are the best." Greg grinned widely at him. "We got to do pretty much everything, even the couples massages. Not Libby and Danielle, just me and Nicky. The best thing though, was that Libby actually got to be a kid again. Nick loved that, she totally forgave him for that whole party thing they were arguing about before, and I've never seen him more relaxed. I think he had more fun than me. I'll have to show you guys all the pictures we took, and we got plenty of video footage too."

"Oh, your mother will be thrilled." He smiled at his son then pulled the car into the doctor's office parking lot, finding an empty parking space close to the entrance. He hadn't been with Greg to the doctors yet, but he was very curious to know what twins on the monitor would look like while they were moving around, rather than the still images Greg kept bringing over with him for them to look at.

* * *

"Nooo!" Danielle whimpered, stomping her little feet on the kitchen floor, as Nick had picked out the yellow sippy cup, when she wanted the blue one. "Daddy, no."

"Danielle, I don't know what you want if you don't tell me." Nick simply explained to her, only making her scream and stomp her feet even more. He set the sippy cup down on the side, as his toddler continued to reach her arms up to him, crying louder as her plea's seemed to be going unnoticed by him. "Libby, are you almost ready?" He shouted through the house, stepping around his whinny toddler, to make sure he had everything in her bag.

"Yep, ready." Libby appeared, slotting a bottle of water into her shoulder strapped bag.

After living with Nick and Greg for a few weeks now, she had seen how much their parent styles varied from her mother's and from each others. When Danielle was whining around Greg, he'd pick her up, cuddle her and do everything the way she wanted it, but with Nick, he'd let her cry it out before she started to settle herself down, and she got whatever Nick gave her, not what she wanted, whereas Libby's mother would have shouted at her, terrifying the poor child to death. She preferred Greg's technique the best, as she hated to see any child cry, but she understood why Nick did what he did, because he didn't want Danielle to always get what she wanted, turning into a spoiled little temper tantrum.

Danielle eventually calmed herself down from her tantrum over the colour of the sippy cup her father had selected, so Nick could wash her face and get her ready to take her out for the day trip to the Las Vegas Zoo, before Libby had to go back to school tomorrow.

The zoo was Libby's idea, as she loved animals and she had always wanted to go, especially after the first amazing holiday of her life with her new family. She wanted Greg to come too, but Nick had somehow screwed up their schedule and completely forgotten that Greg had another doctor's appointment to go to.

_Another time._ Libby thought, helping Nick to load everything in the car. She stood by the front door, watching Nick making sure he had everything and all the windows and doors were shut and locked, before he ushered his two girls off towards the car to leave.

"Ya'ight?" He asked her, as she was giving him a funny look.

"Uh huh." Libby smiled at her father, holding the door open, so he could strap Danielle in. "I can't wait to brag to my friends that I gotta go to Disney World. They're always bragging about going to Spain, Maui, Italy and all that. I've never even been outside of Las Vegas before."

Nick smiled at her, glad that he got to see a permanent smile plastered across her face for a whole week.

* * *

Leaning back against the bench in the park, Jean watched a man walking his dog through the leafs scattering the path then turned her attention towards one of the caseworkers, awaiting the arrival of the bus bringing the children available for adoption to the picnic in the park get together.

"Hello there, I'm Michelle." She introduced herself. "I'm one of the caseworkers."

"Hello, my name is Jean. Jean Sanders."

"Nice to meet you. We're asking all our visitors to wear these name tags," She offered her one of them, giving her a pen to write her name beneath where it said, 'Hello, my name is'. "Is your husband or spouse here with you today, Mrs Sanders?"

"Yes, my husband is just running a little late. He had to take our eldest son somewhere. But he'll be here shortly." She assured the blonde haired woman, who was practically blinding her as the sun rays seemed to illuminate her bright hair, making her look very pale and ghostly.

"Oh, you have an older son?" The woman smiled, noticing the woman was also pregnant. "How old is he?"

"Twenty nine this year."

"Oh... so, quite a big age gap." Taking a seat beside Jean, Michelle asked, "So, you're already a Mommy and about to become one? What made you decide to want to adopt too?"

"Well, when my son was born, it felt like a magical connection had formed between us, the instant I held him in my arms. My son is firmly planted in my heart and I really can't imagine my life without him, but he's growing up now. He's becoming a parent... well, he's already a parent to my three year old granddaughter, but he's becoming a parent to two more after the summer, so I have to let him go a little, and I've always wanted a big family. When Daniel and I were planning our family, we always said that we both wanted four children." Jean began to explain her lengthy explanation that she hadn't prepared for. "Greg is my life, and I know this baby will be my life too, but I can't give up on the dream of adopting a child who doesn't have parents, does that make sense?"

"You have nothing to worry about, Mrs Sanders. There's a couple over there with two sons, aged six and twelve. Instead of going through another horrendous fertility treatment, they've decided to adopt the little girl they've always wanted." She pointed out the rather young looking couple. "There's a lesbian couple over there. They couldn't decide which one of them would carry their third child, as they already have one from each of them, so instead they decided to adopt a child. You're not the first woman with her own children to want to adopt."

"Technically, I only have one child at the moment. I'm still pregnant with the other." Jean reminded her.

"When's your due date?"

"I'm at thirty weeks at the moment, and I'm due on the eleventh of July. And my son's twins are due on the seventeenth of August." She added. "Some agencies have advised against adopting a child while being pregnant, but there's no written law against it, right?"

"No, but it's in our best interest to place an adopted child in a warm loving home, where they will receive love and attention. Some couples going through pregnancy, simply can't offer that to a new child in their lives, as well as looking after their new born baby. The adopted child may feel as though they're being overlooked, because they're not your real child or something like that."

"Oh, well I would never do that."

"That's our aim today, Mrs Sanders. To put these children in a warm nurturing home, where they will be cared for and unconditionally loved. There are thirty three children coming to this picnic today, and over twenty couples to come and meet with the children."

"Sounds like a bidding war." She giggled then sighed in relief as her husband finally showed up, making his way through the park towards her. "You don't think we're being greedy by still wanting another child while we're waiting for the arrival of one, do you?"

"No, Mrs Sanders." The woman assured her, giving her a reassuring smile. "The fact that you're here today, wanting to take in and care for another child, just proves that you are not greedy. I'll be right back." She excused herself, seeing the bus finally pulling up to the curb of the parking lot to the park.

"Hello, honey." Jean greeted her husband with a hug. "I thought you were never gonna make it."

"Sorry, Greg's appointment ran on a little longer than expe..."

"He's okay isn't it? How are the twins?" She panicked, clutching his hands tightly with her own.

"The babies are fine and Greg's fine. The measurements and things just take longer when it's two babies and not just the one." He pointed out to her.

"Has the other baby's heart beat caught up yet?"

"Yeah, it's not as fast as the bigger one, but the doc said it's a normal healthy heart beat for a baby of its size." Daniel assured her, while searching his pockets for the picture Greg had given him to show her. "Greg said not to worry about him. His twenty three week scan went fine. Ah, here we are." Handing the picture over to Jean, Daniel smiled as her face immediately lit up. "Greg said he can feel one of the baby's against his ribs when he sits down. The doc said it's probably the smaller one, Baby B. He's much bigger then he was when we saw him on the last scan."

"Oh, I wish I could have seen em." She complained, turning her attention back to the picture in her hands. "You can see the little nose and everything in this one. Did the doctor say he had to go back for another scan?"

"Yeah, at thirty weeks, just to keep an eye." Daniel assured her, directing her attention over to the children.

"I can't believe I'm in my third trimester, shopping for another child."

"You're only three weeks into your third trimester." Daniel corrected her, giving her a smile as she scowled round at him. "We've still got eleven weeks left of this pregnancy." He shivered as he suddenly realised that it was closer than he thought.

"Oh god, I gotta pee again. Snag the one with the biggest brain." She pointed to the children scattering across the park to play.

"Why?" Daniel queried.

"I've got my heart set on Stanford. Since you went there and Greg went there, I think we should make it a family tradition." She giggled, before she hurried off to the bathrooms, to relieve the pressure from her bladder.

Daniel watched her go then turned his attention back towards the children, feeling weird for watching them to see which one would fit in their family the best. It was like shopping for a puppy. He wanted the smartest, cutest one, but he didn't want to leave the poor little one that nobody wanted behind.

* * *

After Greg returned home from his twenty three week scan, and a impromptu lunch with Catherine and Sara to talk about his honeymoon, he felt completely exhausted, wanting to roll right into bed to sleep, but Nick, Libby and Danielle appeared to be home, so he would have to tell them all about his scan first.

Unlocking the front door, Greg immediately spotted Libby stood in the hall holding a tearful faced Danielle, while his husband was down on his hands and knees, scrubbing at some sort of mess on the carpet. "Hey, Greg." Libby casually greeted him.

"Hi." Dropping his keys on the side table, Greg slowly approached the three of them, still wondering what was going on. "What happened?" He queried.

"The Exorcist." Nick replied, climbing to his feet. "I told Danielle to stop jumpin' on the sofa, right after she had just eaten loads of marshmallows and things in the car ride back, but as usual, she didn't listen." He grinned at his little monster of a daughter. "Then she came out here and told me that her tummy hurt, but before I could do anythin'... projectile vomitin' all across the floor." He pointed. "I gave her some water and crackers. I think she's okay now."

"Oh... ew." Greg giggled, taking Danielle off Libby's hands. "You feel better now do yah, baby?" He whispered to her. "I'll change her." He suggested, wanting to spend some time with his daughter, after seeing his twin babies that he couldn't hold just yet on the monitor.

"Okay," Nick watched Greg carefully stepping around the wet patches of the carpet, before he knelt down to continue scrubbing the mess, wanting it to be spotless.

Greg carefully changed Danielle out of her dirty clothes, then took her through to the bathroom to sponge her down, before he redressed her into a clean outfit. He gave her some more crackers in the kitchen to settle her stomach, before he sat down with her to show her the new pictures of her little brothers or sisters that they had taken today. She once again asked how they could get a camera in his belly, leading back to the long conversation of how doctor's special computers could see inside peoples tummies.

"So, how did it go?" Nick queried, dropping onto the sofa beside him, after a few more minutes of scrubbing.

"Fine. Doctor Simpson said baby A is eleven inches, while baby B is only eight. He estimated that they weigh about a pound or so each at the moment. About as much as a large mango." He smiled, handing the pictures over to Nick, so he could take a look for himself. "I felt this one kick on the drive back." Greg reached for Nick's hand, placing it beneath his t-shirt on his very round protruding stomach, that had dramatically increased in size since before their wedding day. "You feel that?"

"Yeah. That's much stronger than the last time." Nick smiled then leant forwards to kiss his beautiful husband's lips. "Now before you get any bigger, you wonna go and buy those maternity clothes?" He suggested, seeing Greg barely fit his large sweatshirt he let him borrow, and the weather was only getting hotter, making him more uncomfortable.

"Okay." Greg agreed, lifting Danielle over to Nick, so he could climb to his feet. "The Doc put me on strict bed rest too, so it'll be best if we go today."

"As long as you don't mind the kids comin' along then." Nick helped Greg up, as he was having some trouble then rushed to get Danielle ready, before he called out to Libby to tell her where they were going.

Nick managed to get Greg to try on a few jumpsuit dungarees, elastic waist pants and a few sweatpants, so he would be more comfortable, along with a few short sleeved t-shirts that were much baggier on him, some bigger pyjamas and a few lumberjack check shirts.

After they had raided a few of the men's clothing stores, Libby managed to help Nick in convincing Greg to look at some of the baby stuff, buying them their first pack of unisex short sleeved bodysuits in a variety of different colours in a striped pattern.

* * *

"What about this one?" Jean indicated towards the young little girl, filling her shoes with sand.

The young female caseworker beside Jean, flipped through her briefcase, finding the file on little miss. "Olivia, she's six years old. She came into foster care when she was two. She has two big sisters, Kerrie and Haylee; they've each been placed in homes already."

"They didn't place them together?" Jean asked, surprised.

"No, not these ones. Kerrie and Haylee are together in an adoptive parent's home, but Olivia didn't get on with the family as much. The sisters weren't that close to begin with. Kerrie and Haylee had been in and out of foster care before Olivia was born. Their mother has some sort of bipolar disease or something. She kept stopping her medication when she wanted, and she became a danger to her children."

"Oh, the poor little thing." Jean gasped then spotted her husband pushing a little boy on the swings. "What about him?" She pointed.

"Um..." The caseworker shuffled through her briefcase again, finding the relevant file. "Brandon. He's eight. He's been in six foster homes... his mother abandoned him and his brothers to marry some guy, when it didn't work out though, she came back for them. Social services cleared her, but Brandon's detachment from her, stopped her from taking him home like his brothers."

"Oh, that's ridiculous." Jean shook her head, wanting to take every one of these children home with her. "What does a mother like that expect? It's like these parents expect their children to be all forgiving over their behaviour towards them." The caseworker nodded in agreement, desperately wanting to find a child for Jean and Daniel Sanders, as they seemed like such lovely, caring people with plenty of love to give a new child, as well as the baby they were about to have. "What about the young boy over there? Sat by the bouncy castle." She pointed him out.

"Um... that's little Jackson." The caseworker quickly searched for his file, opening it up to take a look. "He's five. His birth parents couldn't deal with his ADHD and violent tendencies, probably not the best choice for you two, with your new baby and all." When Jean looked round at her shocked, she rushed to explain, "He's got a long record of violence here. They have to keep moving him from foster home to foster home, because he ends up hurting the other children."

"Oh. My son has ADD, and I never had a problem with him. I never even had to medicate him." Jean explained, still feeling sorry for the little boy, as he looked so lost and lonely, especially as he was only five and nobody wanted him already. Jean smiled as her husband slowly came over to her, leaving behind the child he was just playing with, so he could play with his friends. "Hi honey, did you have fun with...?" She blanked, trying to remember their name.

"Brandon." Daniel filled in the blank space for her. "Yes I did. He wants to be an astronaut."

"Oh Daniel, this is Akiko." She introduced her husband to the caseworker sat beside her. "Isn't that a beautiful name? It's Japanese, and it means Iris light and bright. Isn't that so beautiful?" Daniel nodded, not at all surprised that Jean had asked her what her name meant, as she was always so nosy. "Her mother's Japanese and her father's Canadian. She moved here to work with unwanted children, three years ago. I really love her; she's one of those full disclosure caseworkers that are so rare." She giggled, gently patting Akiko on the arm.

"Hello, Mr Sanders. Your wife has told me a lot about you." Akiko smiled, shaking his hand. "Have you found a child that's a perfect fit for you and your wife yet?"

"I... don't know." He shrugged, still feeling weird for picking a child, as though they were any other purchase. He couldn't even imagine having to pick his own son out of crowd, which was why it was so hard to pick his next son or daughter out of a crowd of amazing children who all needed homes.

"Well, just take your time. I can introduce you to a few if you like? You two said that you already have a son, so maybe you'd like a little girl? Do you know the sex of the baby yet?"

"No." Jean shook her head. "We wanted to keep it a surprise, but yes; it would be nice to have a little girl."

"Do you have an age range?" Akiko queried. "One of our oldest girls here today are twelve year old Raine, over there. I believe her names French for queen." She pointed out the young looking girl sat on the back of a bench, eating her sandwich. "She's been in foster care since she was three. Her parents were killed in a car accident."

"Oh, the poor thing." Jean immediately felt her heart aching for her.

"Or one of our youngest here today is Emily." Akiko pointed towards the little pig tailed girl in the sandbox with a bucket on her head. The lesbian couple that Jean had spoken to earlier had told her that they wanted a young little girl, so maybe Emily would have been a perfect match for them. "Or Teagan there." Akiko directed their attention towards the six year old on a tricycle far too small for her, with a crowd of adults around her, who had all taken a liking to the beautiful little girl with perfect locks of black hair, and not a blemish in sight on her adorable little face.

"Society today." Jean rolled her eyes, as everyone had gone for the most beautiful child in the park, who looked as though she belonged on the cover of a magazine, in a movie stars arms. "Do you have children yourself, Akiko?" She queried.

"Yes, I have two daughters. One is mine and the other is adopted." Akiko nodded, pulling out some photos of her own children. "This is my adopted daughter, Kameko. We adopted her when she was three months old. And this is my daughter, Maeko. She's three years younger than her sister."

"Kameko and Maeko." Jean smiled, looking at the beautiful little girls, who had long jet black hair, just like their mother. "Why did you decide to adopt first?" She queried, curious to know why, when she could have children herself.

"Well, my first husband and I couldn't get pregnant for a long time. We tried fertility treatments and everything, so we decided to adopt instead of giving up. The birth mother chose us from the catalogue for the adoption, but she changed her mind halfway through and held onto her baby for another three months, before she changed her mind again, but by then, my husband had already left me, so it was just me and Kameko for a while, before I met my second husband and we conceived our daughter, Maeko after three years of marriage." Akiko explained, surprised that Jean was even taking an interest in her life, when she meant to be taking more interest in the children's lives.

"What do their names mean?" Jean queried.

"Maeko means, truth child. And Kameko means child of tortoise. It was my mother's real mother's name, that's why I chose it." She smiled at the Sanders', as they admired her daughters. "Adopting a child is usually quite scary for parents, so I know what you're going through. My mother was adopted, and she used to say that blood is thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood." Both Sanders' nodded in agreement, as that was exactly the case for Nick in their family. "It sometimes helps to talk to parents who have adopted before. I can recommend lots of support groups that would love to have you along. Some of them already have adopted children; some of them are still planning on adoption or are going through the system like you."

"Oh, that's sounds nice."

"Obviously you don't have to pick a child today, it's just a meet and greet for parents to get to know some of the children we have in the system."

"Yes, we'd love that support group thing." Jean eagerly nodded, smiling as Akiko handed her some of the listings of phone numbers and meeting places.

"You're both taking all the training courses, right?" Akiko queried.

"Yes, we're basically becoming child psychologists with the amount of training we've had so far." Jean smirked, putting the information leaflets away in her purse. "Who's that little girl over there?" Jean suddenly pointed to one of the little girl's with her arm in a sling.

"Oh, that's... Jada." Akiko remembered, from reading her file to someone earlier. "She'd need a lot of time and attention, I believe her and her sister were living in a very violent home. Her little sister... Jayleen, I think her name is. She's in a wheelchair, that's why she's not here today."

"The poor thing." Jean sighed, feeling her heart sinking into her chest again.

"Excuse me." One of the other adoptive parents came up to Akiko, asking her some questions about one the children he had just met.

Daniel helped his wife to her feet, holding her hand as they walked back through the park, still struggling with the notion of picking just one of these children. "At least that one will get a home." Daniel pointed to the little girl everyone was crowding around.

"I know. We won't have to worry about her. She might be the most beautiful in the looks department, but I bet she's a handful." Jean smiled, hearing the laughter of the happy children as they played on the swings, slides and bouncy castle around them. "Now there's a beautiful little boy."

"He kinda looks like Greg at that age." Daniel agreed, looking at the little boy sat outside of the bouncy castle, fiddling with his shoe laces.

"I believe that's Joey. Akiko told me about him earlier. He's seven and he's got three big brothers, Lucas, Luis and Leo, all ten years old. Triplets." She smiled round at her husband.

"I don't think we're ready for four children and a baby." Daniel chuckled.

"I know that. Ooh, you see those two little girls there. Fraternal twins Anya and Vika. Aren't they adorable?"

"All children are adorable." Daniel pointed out to her.

"Of course I know that. Maybe we should wait until this one pops out?" She suggested, holding her purse against her side, as she touched her hand to her belly. "You heard what Doctor Lambert said the last time we were there. My increase in age with this pregnancy means we could have an unhealthy baby, who will need a lot of time and attention."

"The baby's been fine so far though. I told you to focus on the positive. We're seeing the genetic counsellor again at the end of the week, and he's just gonna talk to us about the odds of having a child with a chromosomal abnormality or something, and your results from the blood tests and things he did. He's gonna talk about the other tests we can take to check for any kind of disorder too. Everything's gonna be fine though, he said you and the baby and doing much better then one of his patients half your age."

"Just promise me that you won't want to get rid of it, if it does have something wrong with it." She suddenly feared.

"You know I wouldn't do that." Daniel put his arm around her, giving her a wide smile. "This is our baby, no matter what. Just like Greg, we're never gonna let him or her go."

"I believe their big brother will have a few words to say about that."

* * *

That's the end of chapter 25!

**Ptitenath92 – I'm glad you enjoyed the end of Without You, and thanks so much for your lovely review. I've only published one book that isn't fan fiction at the moment. It's called 'Modern Murder and the details are on my profile page. Thanks again!**

**Thanks to SunshineAndDaisies, janet1982, S, CrazyLeex, Greggo'sLittleWriter, Noyu123 and Katsakura, I'm glad that you all enjoyed the wedding.**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, thanks for reading! Please Review :D**

**~ Holly**


	26. Chapter 26: The Big Surprise

**I'm so sorry that I left you guys hanging for so long. My computer decided to crash on me, so I had to wait to get it fixed or to save up to buy a new one. Luckily I managed to get it fixed, but I had to reinstall all my programs and things, but I should be able to start updating this story again.**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter, I know you've been waiting a long time for it :D**

**Thanks to my beta Alisa for your help!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Six: The Big Surprise**

Placing his hands beneath the large bump of his belly that now felt as though he was holding a beer keg beneath his skin, Greg closed his eyes, staying perfectly still as his lover's hands gently brushed down the sides of his body. Nick moved his hands carefully around him, spreading the moisturizing cream from his hands across Greg's protruding stomach, stopping it from becoming dry and itchy, as it continued to grow. "There you go, all done." Nick snapped the lid shut on the tub, then watched as Greg slowly fluttered his eyes open, looking at his stomach a moment, before he lifted his gaze to look Nick in the eye. "You alright, hun? You're not feelin' dizzy again or anythin', right?"

"I'm fine." Greg assured him. "I'm so glad you didn't agree with my mother on having the surprise birthday party for me though, I'm still exhausted. Our night home alone together was perfect."

"Just as long as you know that your mother's gonna make a big deal out of your thirtieth birthday party, since she missed out on the twentieth ninth." He grinned at him then repeated his mother's words, "You only turn thirty once, Gregory. You have to make it special."

"I've already had twenty eight birthday parties." Greg reminded him. "I'm bored of them already. But I can't wait for the actual birth date of these two. And don't call me, Gregory. It sounds weird coming from you."

"Why?" He asked him confused. "It's your name."

"Yeah, but you never call me, Gregory. It's always Greg or G, that's why it sounds weird. Not even Grissom, Catherine or anyone from the lab calls me, Gregory. Just like they barely call you, Nicholas."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I won't call you, Gregory Hojem Sanders, the most irresistible man alive." His Texan husband cheekily winked at him, leaning over his large stomach to press a kiss to his lips.

"What are you gonna call me instead?" The younger man asked, grinning as his husband decided to just lean closer still to kiss him again. "Can I marry you again?"

"Why?"

Grinning widely, Greg ran his thumb across Nick's cheek, whispering, "Because I love you so much, that one wedding doesn't seem like enough."

His husband chuckled softly, adoring him even more. "We have the rest of our lives to show each other how much we love each other, as well as our beautiful children."

"I think after these twins, I'm done though. You can have the next set. If we get twin girls this time, I want twin boys then a set of fraternal twins, a girl and a boy. And they'll all be babies forever, just like Danielle." He smiled, admiring his beautiful little angel sleeping on the bed just a few feet from them. "That's what I want."

"Oh, you do, do you?" The older man chuckled, wondering if they could cope with that many children. "You realise that's... eight kids altogether though, G. Do you think we can deal with all these eight kids and manage to show each other how much we love each other?"

"Yep, we'll hire a nanny." Greg giggled, touching a kiss to Nick's cheek. "Of course I'm joking. But when they perfect the male pregnancy for XY chromosome men, you're trying it out, mister. No buts, I've already carried three of your children, you could at _least_ show me your gratitude by carrying one." A mischievous grin spread across the man's lips, as his partner gulped hard at the news of having to go through a pregnancy himself. "After these babies pop out, a little girl or a little boy from your big ol' Texas belly would be the perfect addition, doncha think?" He continued to torment him.

"Uh... I eh... I guess so." Nick shrugged to him, hoping he wasn't serious, as he didn't think he could go through all of this, just proving how much stronger Greg was then him. "C'mon, we're gonna be late for the thirty week check up of the real babies at this rate." Nick pointed out the time to him, desperate to change the subject.

Greg gave him another grin, rubbing his belly. "So you think I'm beautiful like this, but this would be a nightmare for you?"

"What? No... I eh... you are beautiful. I just..."

"Relax cowboy, I'm kidding." He giggled, cupping the fretful man's cheeks in his palms. "As if they would ever perfect the male pregnancy and what man in their right mind would be willing to try, right?"

"I would . . . for you." Nick assured him, sealing a kiss to Greg's lips. "I'd do anythin' for you."

"We really are gonna be late at this rate." His lover smirked. "Do you think we'll ever become one of those couples who just suddenly stop talking and sweep everything they wonna say to each other under the rug?"

"Never." Nick shook his head, keeping his eyes locked with Greg's. "We'll always be able to talk like this. That's part of the reason why I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, Greg." He stole another mouth watering kiss from the younger man's lips, leaving him wanting more yet again, before he decided to hurry things along and get Greg dressed and ready for his appointment, before they really were late.

"Do you think that this week... we could find out their sexes?" Greg suddenly asked, watching Nick's reaction. "We don't have to. I'd just... I thought that maybe... we could find out." He spoke softly, smoothing his hands across the babies growing inside of his stomach.

"I'd love to know." Nick assured him, holding his clean boxer shorts open for him, so he could step into them. "The baby showers on Thursday, so it'll be perfect timin'." After Greg stepped into his shorts, Nick suddenly slapped himself in the forehead, realising what he had just said. "I didn't tell you that." He quickly warned him.

"Baby Shower?" The stunned man tugged his shorts to his waist, giving Nick a confused look. "We're having a baby shower? But I don't..."

"Damn it, I'm sorry. It's already planned. I'm sorry; I didn't mean to tell you that. Your mother invited us over for dinner on Thursday, remember? Well it's gonna be a surprise baby shower with all our friends from work, and a few of hers..."

"But Nicky, I look like a freaking whale. I can't go anywhere like this. I don't even wonna go to my doctor's appointment. I don't even like standing in front of you like this. I'm so fat." He complained, watching over the mountain of his stomach, as Nick fastened his elastic top jeans into place.

"You're not a whale . . . you're beautiful."

"And you're a very good liar." Greg retorted. "Nicky, you have to cancel it. I'm not going like this."

"I'm sorry, but you know your mother. You have to go, and you can't tell anyone you know either, your mother will ring my neck." He warned him, grabbing the folded t-shirt off the dresser at his side, pulling it down over Greg's head. His younger lover still looked relatively skinny. His face, chest, arms and legs were still basically the same size; it was just the stomach that looked abnormal and too big for his body. He was much bigger than he remembered with Danielle, and he thought that was huge, but this bump kept him at least eight inches away from him at all times.

"Stop staring at me like that."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. You're just too beautiful." He grinned at him, snickering softly as Greg rolled his eyes at him. "You okay, baby?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... kinda uncomfortable. Look at all these veins, I had this dream last night that my stomach suddenly ruptured like a volcano, and there was just blood everywhere. It was horrible."

"I can imagine." Nick gently pulled his maternity t-shirt down over his belly, giving him a smile as it just about stretched into place. "There we go, all done. And you are beautiful, Greg. I'm not lyin' just to make you feel better either. You are so beautiful. You're actually glowin'."

"Really? Well, do yah think you can afford a tummy tuck after these babies are out?" Greg queried, leaning on Nick's shoulders, as he lifted one foot at a time, so Nick could put his socks on for him.

"Trust me, you won't need a tummy tuck." Nick smiled at him. "Your skins still nice and soft. And you're young, so it'll easily spring back like the elastic waist band of your jeans. Besides, I'll love you no matter what you look like. I mean, have you seen all this chest hair?" He grinned, brushing his hands beneath Greg's t-shirt.

"I know... it's horrible."

"I think it's sexy." Nick rasped, giving him a sexy wink. "You've never looked more beautiful to me."

"You've gotta stop with the compliments, cowboy. You can say whatever you like; your compliments of beauty are falling on deaf ears. I've gained thirty eight pounds in my belly. Unless I'm giving birth to two nineteen pound babies, that doesn't sound very good." He patted his huge stomach. "I feel like I'm gonna rip if I even sneeze."

"You won't rip, and your Doctor said you're at a healthy weight." Nick assured him, climbing to his feet again. "C'mon, brush your teeth and don't worry about anythin'." He pecked a kiss to his cheek then made his way over to the bed, lifting his sleeping child up from the bed where she had chosen to take her nap, so he could get her in the car seat, before he worried about Greg.

The drive to the doctor's office was very uncomfortable for Greg. The baby beneath his ribs was getting bigger, restricting his breathing even more.

Doctor Simpson was pleased to see the three of them for one of the appointments for a change, catching up with Nick about what was going on in their lives, before he said hello to Danielle, finally paying attention to his patient, so he could get him weighed and checked over, before he did the ultrasound.

"Two hundred and three pounds?" Greg shrieked as he climbed off the scales. "That means... I've gained eight more pounds."

"Yep, good work." Doctor Simpson smiled at him, recording his weight, before he took some measurements of his belly. Greg didn't know how that was good work. He felt fat and very uncomfortable. "That means your babies are growing, Greg. You'll be able to lose that weight within no time . . . once those babies are out of course. I'm gonna need you to keep up the weight, just for a little longer, Greg. We usually tell people with singletons about your normal weight to gain between twenty eight and forty pounds. But because you're pregnant with twins, you should be gaining from thirty seven to fifty four pounds. Just think of it this way, the bigger you are, the healthier and stronger your babies will be. And most of this weight you've gained accounts for the two little people growing inside of you. So you will lose the weight pretty quickly." He assured him, getting him ready for the ultrasound.

Nick held Danielle in one of his arms beside the table, while holding Greg's hand with the other, anxiously watching the monitor to see his babies. Nick soon noticed the familiar shape of one of the baby's heads, along with the string of pearls from their spine. He smiled seeing their shorts choppy breaths, the movements of their legs and the twitching of their tiny hands.

It had been a while since he last saw them moving, and it was completely worth the wait.

"There's baby A, still nice and big." Doctor Simpson announced, moving over one of their feet, which they then tried to kick at. The doctor printed an image of the small foot then moved round to check the head, which now had clearly visible eyes, nose, mouth, ears and tiny little fingers in its mouth, making the excited parents smile in awe of their baby.

They patiently waited for their doctor to take all the measurements, monitor the heart and everything, before they could finally see how the other baby was doing.

Baby B appeared to be facing the other way though. They could make out the back of its head, the back bone, bottom and one of its arms twitching slightly beside it. They appeared to be much bigger this week, but baby A was still bigger, still making Greg worry about them.

"Can you tell the sexes at this stage?" Greg suddenly queried, remembering what he had discussed with Nick in the car drive over.

"Yes, if their legs are open, or if they're facing the right way." He nodded, then looked between the two expecting fathers. "Would you like to know what you're having?" Nick looked at Greg then gave the doctor a nod, excited to find out too. "Alright." He smiled back, adjusting the device on Greg's stomach to a better angle. He moved it round towards baby A again, trying to get a clear image, but the baby was moving too much, making the image unclear.

"We're gonna see if you're gettin' little brothers or sisters." Nick whispered to the curious child in his arms, giving her a smile as she pointed her hand out to the monitor, watching as the doctor moved around the interesting looking toy across her Daddy's tummy.

"Well, this one's not cooperating. Let's take a look at baby B." Doctor Simpson moved it round so it was almost on Greg's side, right between the smaller baby's legs, the doctor nodded as the image became clearer, announcing, "Your little baby B . . . is a boy."

"A boy." Nick smiled, clutching Greg's hand a little tighter, as they were both hoping for a boy.

"Let's try the other one again." The doctor moved the device again, trying to get a better look at the other baby. He smiled as the baby kicked at the surface of Greg's stomach, giving him a clear indication of his gender. "There we go, another boy." He pointed it out to them, seeing the surprised smiles on each of their faces. "Congratulations you two, it looks like you're having two little boys!"

* * *

"Of course, yes. Being a parent means the world to both of us. Daniel is definitely looking forward to being a hands on dad. Growing our family through adoption would be the greatest blessing that we could imagine . . . yes, alright . . . thank you so much . . . goodbye." Jean put the phone down then beamed a wide smile over at her husband. "You'll never guess what."

"You're gonna make me guess after the two hour long phone call you just had?" He rhetorically asked her. "You've had me in suspense long enough Jean, just tell me."

"Well, after we bedazzled the home study social worker on her last visit. She's officially approving us as adoptive parents, now we just have to find the right child to fit in our home. What I can't believe is that it's been all this time already. It flew by. I thought it would have gone painfully slow since we were waiting for something to happen."

"That seems too easy." Daniel smiled, feeling his excitement bubbling to the surface. "So, we just look through the list of waiting children up for adoption and pick one based on their picture?"

"Apparently, they each have a whole profile on their personality and a little bit about their background. There's links to sibling pages, if they have any, and a bit about their medical history and things too."

"Where are you going?" He asked, as she immediately grabbed her purse and keys, without telling him a word.

"Greg called just before Maryanne did. He just had his thirty week check up, so I wonna go over and see the pictures. You coming?"

"Nah, I gotta get back to work." He tapped his watch. "But tell him I'll see them later though, and drive carefully." He quickly warned his wife.

"Will do." Jean stole a quick kiss from her husband's lips then hurried out to her car, just about squeezing in behind the wheel of her car, ready to drive off to her son's house. Just as Jean arrived at his house, she spotted Nick driving away to go and collect Libby from school, with Danielle in the back. She let herself in with the spare key in her purse, finding her son sat in the front room, watching the television with a blank stare. "Hello, sweetheart!" She loudly greeted him, making him jump.

"Jeez Mom, don't do that." He panted, placing his hand over his chest. "I'm too young for a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry, honey. I didn't want to make you get up to answer the door. You're supposed to be on bed rest." She reminded him, even though he knew, as that was all he had been doing for the past few weeks. "So, how did the doctor's appointment go?"

"Fine." Greg pointed to the coffee table in front of him, where he had left the new pictures of his twins.

"Just fine?" She chuckled, taking a seat on the chair beside the sofa, taking a look at the adorable pictures of her new grandchildren. "Aww, aren't they adorable? So, what did the doctor say?" She asked again.

"Well, he's hoping to get me to thirty six weeks, before he schedules a c-section. A planned one this time. I have to keep up the weight gain, stay on bed rest for the next couple of weeks," He relayed all the information his doctor had told him back to his mother, leaving out the part about the genders, as he wanted to keep it a surprise from her.

Nick, Danielle and Libby arrived home an hour later, after grabbing some groceries to keep them stocked up. "Hello, Libby. Did you have a good day at school?" Jean greeted her, smiling at her new granddaughter, who looked so much more lively then she did when she first met her. The first time she met her, her face was bruised and her clothing was big black and baggy. In the past five months though, it was as though her life had completely turned around. Her clothing had a little more colour and a visible smile was always present on her face.

"Yeah, it was pretty good." Libby nodded, helping her father with the grocery bags. "I got a ton of geometry homework though."

"Oh, I remember those days." She giggled, looking towards her son, before she got back to her story about the adoption children with Greg.

"Mom, you've been talking about, Akiko, for the past hour or so, at some point you're going to get to the actual children that you met, right?" Greg queried, looking across the room at her from his position on his sofa, with a blanket draped around his legs. "You did talk to some of the kids, right?"

"Yes, of course I did. I was just trying to remember, it was over a few weeks ago now, Greg." Once she was finally done talking about her new favourite person in the world, Akiko, she finally moved onto the children. "We met some very lovely children. This one little boy... Harvey, he told me that he wasn't up for adoption, because his parents were going to come and take him away to live on a farm, where he'd finally meet his baby sister and get to play with all the different farm animals." She remembered her conversation with him. "As it turned out, the agency had no record of his birth parents. He was dumped at the hospital in a wrapped blanket, shortly after birth. Can you imagine just popping out the kid, cutting the umbilical cord then just leaving him on the hospital doorstep?"

"In china they throw them in bins." Greg reminded her, trying to lighten her mood. "I'm sure the mother thought that she was doing the right thing. Are you adopting him?"

Jean shook her head, "The caseworker didn't think he'd be a right fit for us. He has lots of abandonment issues that probably wouldn't be worked out if he was placed in a home with a newborn baby. We met this lovely little girl, Brooke. She was four years old. She has a big brother called, Mason. I think he was nine, maybe ten. We didn't get to meet him, but Brooke was a lovely little girl. I think her and Danielle would have gotten along great."

Greg nodded to her, almost seeing a look of disappointment on her face. "So, you didn't find one?"

"We found loads. There was this little girl obsessed with the colour Azure. Barely out of diapers and she knew exactly how to spell it. There was a little boy who reminded your father of you when you were his age, but he has three older siblings. Triplet boys. And the caseworkers like to keep families together when they're placed in an adoptive family, so I don't think they'd be the right fit for us. But we're officially on the waiting child list now and we've been approved as eligible adoptive parents. It's just a matter of time now." She smiled at him, then turned her head as Nick came in the room. "Hello, Nicky. Are yah getting excited for these little ones to pop out?"

"Yes, very." He nodded, smiling towards his husband, as he handed him the jar of pickles from his hands that the younger man had been craving all day. "The Doc recons we have about six weeks left, so we're assemblin' cribs and all sorts, just in case."

"You shoulda done that weeks ago." She giggled. "How are those hormones coming along? They gotten any worse yet?"

"My moods fine, but check this out." Lifting the long sleeved t-shirt he was wearing; Greg showed his mother all the excess hair that had grown on his chest, making Nick roll his eyes at him, as there were certain things you didn't show your mother. "I'm growing more hair then I did at puberty. I have to shave my beard every morning and night. Well Nicky does it; I only end up cutting myself." He smirked, brushing his fingertips across the stumble on his chin.

His mother immediately giggled, shaking her head at him. "Oh honey, that's the hormones. Everything grows during pregnancy, from your hair fingernails, to your stomach... it's all perfectly normal." She assured him, then greeted her granddaughter with a wide smile, as she wandered into the room.

"Dada." She pointed up to him.

"Hello, Munchkin." Greg lifted her up onto the sofa with him, resting her comfortably against his side.

"Did you have an accident?" Jean pointed to the wet patch on Nick's jeans.

"No." He immediately protested, before she started thinking that he was suffering from some kind of bladder weakness. "Danielle spilt her juice at the park. It hasn't dried yet. I'm gonna go change my trousers; I'll be back in a minute."

"Do you need help with the fasteners of your diaper, Nicky?" Jean teased him, giggling as his face flushed red. "Well, I should go; do I get a hug from my favourite grandchild?" She queried, making her way over to the sofa, carefully lifting Danielle from her son to give her a hug goodbye.

"You know, Mom. You won't be able to play favourites once the new babies and my new little brother or sister arrives." Greg pointed out to her. "I can't be your favourite forever, and Danielle can't always be your favourite either."

"Well, between me and you two, you'll always be my favourites, because you're the first." She grinned at them, then pressed a kiss to Danielle's forehead, before handing her back over to her son. "I'll see you later, sweethearts. And you mister, keep eating. A low weight gain isn't good for these babies."

"I know. I know. But I already weigh two hundred and three pounds." He pointed out to her. "The Doc said I'm right on track."

"Oh, that's nothing, honey. I've put on thirty pounds with this one so far. With you I gained thirty three pounds, and I lost it within the next two weeks after you were born." She assured him. "Anyway, must go. Bye, honey. I'll see you later. And I'll tell your father all about the twins."

"Okay, I'll see you at the baby shower." He subtly waved to her, watching for her surprised reaction as he let it slip.

Jean looked at him wide eyed, then turned towards Nick as he entered the room in a clean pair of jeans. "You told him? You told him about the _surprise_ baby shower? Nicky! How could you?" She scolded him.

"It... slipped out." Nick defended himself, frowning at his husband for ratting him out. "And the Doc said stress at this point isn't good, so I explained it all to him once it slipped out. He's still gonna act surprised and everythin', so you can have it the way you want it though." He assured her.

"Well it's no point in having a _surprise_ party, if it's not going to be a surprise." Jean complained, rolling her eyes at Nick, as he only had to keep it secret for another three days. "Fine, I'll see you at the 'not a surprise', baby shower." She groaned, pecking a kiss to her son in law's cheek, before she playfully smacked him on the arm, giving him a hug goodbye.

Nick walked her to her car, before he returned to the house to fix everyone some lunch. Greg stayed seated on the sofa for the rest of the day; doing exactly what the doctor told him their last visit, eat lots and plenty of sleep and relaxing.

Nick felt as though he could finally relax too, feeling as though they were going to get through the last few weeks of Greg's pregnancy just fine, that was until he bumped into a pregnant, very hormonal Valerie, who he just couldn't get away from. "Yep, Libby's fine. Really, fine." He assured her for the hundredth time. "We actually went to Disney World in Florida for our honeymoon and Libby loved it there."

"You took my daughter on your gay honeymoon?" Valerie practically shrieked.

"Anyway, I have to go." Nick decided to change the subject, not wanting to get into it with her again, as he had Danielle with him and he was on his way to pick up Greg to take him to his 'no longer a surprise' baby shower. "I'll tell Libby you were askin' about her..."

"Aren't you gonna ask why I'm here?" Valerie cut him off, blocking his path with her large stomach. "I've found the father of this child and I'm meetin' him here. I'm goin' to do everythin' right with this one. They may have taken my other children from me, but I'm goin' to do right by this one..."

"By meetin' the father when you're what... thirty seven weeks?" He interrupted her. "You shoulda done it sooner than that. How do you know he'll even believe you or want anythin' to do with you? I mean, look at all the men you sleep with. How do you know exactly which one?"

"My doctor helped me figure it out, based on my last menstrual cycle. I was only seein' one man around that time," She paused to smile at someone behind him. "And here he is."

Nick turned round to see who it was, widening his eyes as his best friend, Warrick made his way closer to Valerie, greeting her with a slight hug, before he looked at Nick with equally wide eyes.

"Hi, Warrick. Thanks for meetin' me here." Valerie smiled at him, then tossed a look over her shoulder to Nick. "See yah Nick; tell Libby I'm thinkin' of her."

"You know, Nick?" Warrick asked her, looking between the two of them surprised.

"Oh yeah, he's a dead beat father of one of my other babies." She chuckled, leading Warrick away so they could talk alone.

Frozen with shock, Nick remained on his spot, watching Warrick walking away with Valerie. He had no idea that Warrick would be so stupid and sleep with a woman like her, let alone get her pregnant with a love child, exactly the same as him.

As soon as Warrick and Valerie found a quiet place to sit, Valerie explained, "So Warrick, I'm... I'm just gonna cut to the chase. I'm pregnant. It's your baby. I timed my cycle, and you were the only guy that I slept with around the month that this baby was conceived. I don't want to have to have an abortion, and it's kinda late anyway. And I want you to be involved in this baby's life. If they take him or her away from me, I want you to take care of them. I don't want them to have to grow up in foster care."

Warrick looked at her wide eyed and open mouthed, "But, that was... months ago. How can it be my baby, Pearl?" He asked, trying to judge how far along she was by the size of her large stomach.

"First of all, my stage name is Pearl. My real name is Valerie. Valerie Larson." She properly introduced herself to him, watching his eyes widening. "What?"

"You're... fuck!" He hit himself in the head, realising why Nick looked so surprised. "You mean to tell me, that I slept with the mother of my best friend's first child? And now you're pregnant with my child?"

"Whoa... who the hell are you talkin' about?"

"Nick. Nick Stokes. He's my best friend." He slapped himself in the head again. "That's why Libby looked so familiar at the wedding, because I saw her round yours with all them other kids."

"Ha... that's fucked up." She giggled, rolling her eyes at him. "Well, at least your kids will be brother and sister or somethin'. You slept with me Warrick; you have to take responsibility for this child."

"It's not my problem, lady . . . Pearl, Valerie... whatever yah name is, this really isn't my problem. I've read up on you and there's no chance in hell we'll be raising babies together." He objected, climbing to his feet.

"I'm not some disposable wash rag, asshole. Whether you like it or not, I'm pregnant with your child. We can do a paternity test if you wonna be sure. I've had a lotta luck with them in the past. This might be my last chance to do good by a child, and you're gonna help me out, whether you like it or not."

"Fuck." Warrick dropped into his seat again, tapping his fingers to his head, as he tried to think. "What's seriously so bad about an abortion?"

"God you fuckin' men, you're all the same. I will not kill this baby, just because you're not ready to own up to your mistake, and it's too late anyway. I've dealt with this with your friend, Nick. And look where it got him. I'm havin' this child and I need you there to support it. I want you actively involved in its up bringin' and..."

"Look Pearl, or whatever, I don't have to do shit until you can prove that this baby is mine. You told me you were on the god damn pill. We even used a fucking condom, they're not a hundred percent effective, but my shit ain't even that good. I've never gotten a girl pregnant before, not even without protection."

"I was on the pill. And you're right, it's not always one hundred percent effective, as I've proved in the past, but this goddamn thing growin' inside of me is yours. It sucks, but it happened." She surmised. "It wasn't my fault, but I'm not lettin' you leave it all up to me, just like the last load of dead beat dads I've dealt with. I've never had unprotected sex, but somehow I ended up with four kids. Which is funny, because my sisters have been through more fertility treatments then they count and my mother always had trouble gettin' pregnant too."

"That's not funny." Warrick scowled at her, placing his hands on top of the table. "We'll do the paternity test, then if it is mine... I'll try and figure something out." He reasoned with her, then climbed to his feet. "But if you even think that I'm giving you one cent before then, you've got another thing coming lady. Nick's told me all about you."

"Did he tell you that he stole my daughter from me?"

"Yeah, I was the one who congratulated him." Warrick sneered back at her, before he turned to walk away, wondering if he could face Nick at the baby shower, after the man had just figured out what was going on.

* * *

"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouted, jumping out from their hiding spots to surprise Greg, who wasn't really surprised, even though he had been practising his surprised face in the car on the drive over.

Greg gave them all a wide smile, waiting for the hugs and belly pats to reach him, as everyone was so amazed by his size. Nick's sisters fussed over their baby brother a moment, giving him big Texas hugs, before they moved onto Greg, asking him thousands of questions about his twins.

"You could have acted a little more surprised, Gregory." His mother scolded him, taking her granddaughter off his hands to hold. "There's food and drinks in the dining room and presents in the den." Jean pointed Libby and Nick towards it, leading her son through to the front room to see everyone else. "Maryanne, this is my son, Gregory and my granddaughter, Danielle." She proudly introduced them to her friend.

"Hello, Greg." The woman greeted him with a warm smile and a handshake. "It's so lovely to finally meet you. Jean raves about you all the time."

"I don't find that hard to believe." Greg grinned at his mother.

"All nice things." She assured him. "I met Maryanne through the adoption agency. She's adopted three children of her own, a sibling set and she was helping me out with the preparation of introducing a new child into our home." His mother explained to him, before moving onto the ext friend of hers, proudly showing off her son and granddaughter, before she went to find her son in law and older granddaughter to show off to her friends who already knew Greg.

When Jean finally stopped fussing over him, Greg found himself somewhere to sit, taking the pressure off his lower back. Nick's sisters started to shower him with their gifts that they brought for the twins, showing off the cute little matching bibs and the various toys for either gender, while each giving him their own advice on raising multiple children.

"Hey Mom, have you thought of any names yet?" He asked her, as she took a seat beside him on the sofa.

"Yes, I have." She grinned, thinking back to her list she had made. "These are all for either a girl or a boy. I like Ryker, Raine, Reece, Rosie, Riana, Raymond, Ryland, Ross, Rebecca, Riley, Richard, Ryder..."

"What's with all the R's?" He interrupted her, smiling as his husband walked by them with Danielle squirming in his arms.

"I love them. I love the M's too." Jean grinned round at him. "I won't bore you with the whole list, but my favourite M names for girls are Mackayla, Matilda, Maya and Megan. While my favourites for boys are Matthew, Morgan and Miles. Daniel and I have composed a list of our favourites for each letter now, what about you and Nicky, what's on your list of names for these twins?"

"Well," Greg anxiously bit his lower lip, unable to recall any of the names that they had picked out now that they knew they were having boys.

"What about Barnaby?" His mother suddenly suggested. "I love that name, I was going to name you Barnaby, but your father didn't like it."

"Thank god for small favours." Greg smiled towards his father, as he handed them both some drinks.

"C'mon then Gregory, what names _have_ you picked?" Jean complained, eager to know what her grandchildren were going to be called.

"Yeah, c'mon Greg," Catherine suddenly joined in. "What are yah gonna call these little monsters?"

"Well, our favourite names are Ava and Leah for twin girls, but for the boys, we're a little indecisive. We both love the name Oliver, but we can't decide if the other should be called Elliot, Tyler, Archer... eh... Harrison, Teddy and I think the other was Owen." Greg remembered all the names they had talked about in their honeymoon suite. "Then for a twin girl and a boy, we like Aiden and Ethan, but we're still hooked on the name Oliver. Nicky likes Ravyn, Dylan and Jessie for girls too."

"When do you find out the sexes?" Catherine queried, smiling as Nick took a seat beside her. "You can only tell their sex if the babies are facing the right way up though, right?" She remembered.

"And if their legs are open." Greg's mother added, giving them a smile as they all looked up at her surprised. "What? Greg would _never_ open his legs. He was so stubborn. He never opened his legs for every appointment I had. We could never tell if he was a girl or a boy, until the day he was born."

"I'm sure that's no problem now, huh Nicky?" Catherine teased Greg, giggling softly as the younger man elbowed her in the side. "Aww, I'm only teasing, Greggy."

"Well it's not very funny." He pouted at her then looked at Nick, giving him a wide smile as they were both even more excited for these babies to come out, especially now that they were looking at toys and cute little matching outfits that their friends had bought for them. "Well, we kinda... we already found out what they are." Greg finally spoke up, gulping hard at the reaction on his mother's face. "We're having boys."

"Yes!" Catherine suddenly cheered, surprising them all. "Sorry, the lab made a bet on what you're having. Looks like I'm the winner. Congratulations." She smiled widely, hugging Nick beside her. "I've just gotta go and find Mandy. She owes me big time."

Greg giggled softly, rolling his eyes at her as she happily skipped away to spread the news. His mother was next to follow, excitedly spreading the news to everyone that she was going to be getting fraternal twin grandsons in just a few short weeks.

Nick and Greg stayed for a few minutes later for the cutting of the baby cake, more photographs of their family so far and a few baby shower games, before Jean finally let them go home, so Nick could get his exhausted husband and children off to bed.

"I think we should call the smaller one, Oliver." Greg smiled towards his husband, as he started undressing himself for bed. "Because he keeps begging his big brother for more room." He giggled.

"Okay." Nick smiled up at him. "We never did pick our other favourite boy name, because you were so sure we were gettin' another girl."

"I know. I thought we were." Leaning back against the pillows propped up against the headboard behind him, Greg smiled again as he finally knew what they were having. "I kinda like the name Donovan... or Declan. And the other day I heard the name Lucas, which I really like too. I like Tyler and Elliot with Oliver too." He giggled again. "At the moment, it's just Oliver and the other one. He won't mind us calling him that till college, right? If I let him grow up that is. Do you think it's a Sanders family trait to cling to our babies? I can't wait to hold them, but I kinda like having them... here." The emotional young man placed his hands on his stomach, giving his husband a small grin.

Nick smiled in awe as he saw a tear in his lover's eyes. Dropping to his knees in front of him, Nick pressed a kiss to his lover's forehead, whispering, "Don't worry about it, honey. We're nearly there. Not long now and you'll be able to hold both of them in your arms as you look down into their beautiful little eyes. Don't cry, my love." He delicately brushed away his tears with his fingertips. "You'll be holdin' your babies before you know it."

"That's not why I'm crying."

Nick climbed onto the bed beside him, pulling him against his chest to hold him in his embrace. "Why are you cryin', baby?" He whispered into his hair.

"I don't know." He smirked, closing his eyes against Nick. "It's these damn hormones. I can't wait to be over this part of the pregnancy."

"I love you, baby." His Texan lover rasped, pressing a kiss to his hairline. "You know that, right?" Greg nodded, clutching him tighter in his own arms. "And I'm definitely gonna be with you when the doc decides to induce labour this time. I'm sorry; I almost missed it the last time."

"It's okay; it created a great memory of my husband jumping in at the last minute to see his daughter being born." The younger man smiled to himself. "I'm so glad I get to finally call you that. People have been asking if you were my husband since the moment I had a baby with you, and now I can finally say yes, instead of correcting them to fiancé."

"I'm sorry it took us so long to get married too."

"I'm not. It was well worth the wait." He smiled, with his eyes still closed. "You know, there's something we have to talk about if we are having boys."

"What's that?"

"Whether we're gonna circumcise." Greg pointed out to him, watching Nick looking at him surprised, as he had never even thought about that.

"Talk about killin' the moment." Nick smirked.

"I know, but we have to talk about these things, and as you said, we are running out of time." He pointed out to him. "Apparently, it's less painful if we do it after they're born. I did some research on reasons for and against circumcision too." Greg pointed to the cabinet across the room. Nick scrambled off the bed to reach it, joining Greg on the bed again, as he looked over the information he had found. "I asked my Mom why she had me circumcised, and she said because my Dad was, and she didn't want me to be uncomfortable with being different from him."

"And my parents did it for religion." He smirked, flipping through the pages. "Wow, you really put a lot of thought into all this, G."

"Well you can read through it all before we decide. There's risks of infection and things if they have the circumcision, but there's risks if they don't too."

"You really do think of everythin', huh?" He chuckled softly then leant up on his hands to touch his lips to Greg's. "But that's part of the reason why I love yah, G."

"Good, 'cause we're gonna have to think about paediatricians and things again. Do you know where the number is for Danielle's?"

"On the fridge, under Doctor Simpson's number." Nick reminded him.

"We're also gonna have to decide who looks after Danielle when I go in to have my c-section. My parents should have their own baby to worry about then, so we can't rely on them to look after her."

"Well, there's always Catherine... or Sara." Nick smiled at him, leaning on his elbow. "We've got a while yet though; you're only thirty weeks or so. The doc said he wouldn't have to start worryin' about them until thirty five or thirty six weeks. That's plenty of time to think it all over. And I kinda wanted her with us."

"So do I, but I want you with me in surgery and there's no one to look after her while we're in there." Greg pointed out to him, holding his other hand closer to his chest. "My Nana Olaf might be able to help out, but I might have to go into labour early or something, so she'll still be in LA. And we still have to go over all the stuff with Doctor Simpson. And last time, with Danielle, I never signed the durable power of attorney for healthcare thingy, so if anything went wrong, my mother would have had to make the decisions, but I wonna sign it over to you."

"Greg, I..."

"Just in case." Greg interrupted him, knowing Nick couldn't bear the thought of losing him. "I know you don't want to, but we have to talk about these things in case anything ever happens to either one of us. We already made the plan that Sara and Warrick are Danielle's god parents if we both... you know. We have to do the same for us, especially considering that we're not even entitled to the rights of opposite sex couples. Some doctor or nurse might not care that we were married with kids..."

"Okay," Nick nodded, gulping back his emotions. "We'll have to sort it all out. Doctor Simpson will tell us the day of your c-section on our next appointment." He remembered.

Greg nodded then turned his head towards the door, as he heard a sudden pounding noise. "Is that Libby?"

"Yeah, I think so." Scrambling off the bed, Nick hurried to answer it, looking at his eldest surprised, "Hi... hey, what's the matter?" He immediately asked, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"It's Valerie . . . she's had the baby." Libby explained, feeling her hands shaking, as she was worried about the baby. "Ruby called me. She had a little girl, but she's really sick. Can you take me to go see her?" She pleaded her father with her puppy dog eyes.

"Um... sure." Nick nodded, grabbing his shirt and shoes again, ready to leave.

"Is that okay, Greg?" Libby asked for his permission, worrying about leaving him alone while he was this pregnant.

"Yeah, that's fine. I hope she's okay." Greg secretly prayed for her, knowing the baby didn't deserve to suffer because of its mother's choices. Nick pecked a quick kiss to his husband's forehead then grabbed his truck keys, hurrying out to the car with Libby. He thought he better call Warrick on the way, especially as it was his baby and all. He knew if the situation was reversed that he would want to know.

* * *

**Thanks so much for being so patient and for reading. I hope you enjoyed it! And to those of you still asking, yes I did delete my stories 'You' and 'Take me There' because I was planning on rewriting them. I don't know when I'll get around to it, hopefully once this story is finished, but I don't know for sure.**

**Please review, I'll try not to leave you hanging for another month this time :D**

**~ Holly**


	27. Chapter 27: Unique Parenting

**Thanks so much to my beta Alisa for your help on this chapter. She apologises for any mistakes she missed.**

**I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Unique Parenting**

"Alright you little Munchkin, it's time for bed." Greg lifted his freshly bathed baby girl into his arms, wrapping her warm fluffy towel around her, before he struggled to climb to his feet, finding it much harder to do with the weight of three babies against his chest.

"That's why the Doctor told you to rest." His husband decided to remind him, taking Danielle off the breathless young man's hands. Nick rewrapped the towel around his daughter, before he sat her down on their bed, helping Greg to sit down, before he passed out. "I'll do the rest, you stay in bed." He warned him, lifting Danielle back into his arms to take her through to her own room, getting her ready for bed.

Danielle made a fuss at first; wanting her Daddy Greg to dress her for bed, but she soon gave in as Nick lightly tickled her, pressing delicate kisses to her forehead. She allowed him to dress her into her pyjamas then insisted on a big hug from him, lasting just over twelve minutes, before she would even let him tuck her in, beneath the covers of her bed.

"Goodnight, baby girl." He touched multiple kisses to her forehead, giving her another tickle, before he climbed to his feet. "I love you." He waved from the door, smiling as she raised her hand to give him a wave back.

"Doctor Simpson scheduled my caesarean on the third of July, when I'll be... thirty eight weeks." Greg reported, watching his husband re-entering the room from their bed. "I think I'll be around eight months by then, but he said it's safer for all three of us that way. It feels weird saying that. All three of us. There's three people living in this body."

"Ya'ight, Greg? You seem a little out of it."

"Uh huh... he said I might have to spend the last few days in hospital though, which totally sucks." The younger man complained, smoothing his hands across his stomach. "You know that I hate being in hospital."

"Don't worry yourself so much, Greg. I'll get that whole week off, just in case." Nick climbed onto the bed beside him, touching a kiss to his partner's cheek. "Don't worry about it baby, you'll feel so much better once you can look into your babies beautiful little eyes."

"I'm gonna kill you if you ever get me pregnant again, Nicky." The younger man sternly warned him, grabbing his husband's shirt collar to pull him closer. "I'm serious this time, no more babies."

"Okay, okay. Ease up on the grip, honey."

"Promise me." Greg demanded, tugging him closer. "No more babies."

"I promise, I promise." The Texan assured him, feeling a little intimidated by his scary pregnant partner.

"You better keep that promise, or I'm having you neutered." He tugged his partner even closer, bringing their lips together for a ravenous kiss, before he finally released his grip on his collar.

* * *

The following week, Nick decided to drive Warrick off to the hospital after work, so he could take a look at his friend's newborn daughter for the first time. As he hadn't seen her when he brought Libby by, he was curious to know if the new baby looked more like Warrick or Valerie.

He was hoping that she would take after her father, just like Libby had with him.

"There she is." Warrick stopped by the window, pointing towards the incubator where his tiny baby was lying on her stomach, curled up in a little ball.

Her eyes were covered with a white bandage; there were various tubes and wires covering her tiny arms and legs, along with lots of monitors stood around her crib, doing their job to keep her alive. The diaper she was wearing covered half of her tiny body and her veins and bones were visible through her very thin skin.

"Valerie decided on the name, Victoria Rose Larson. Libby's been calling her Tori for short though." Warrick spoke softly, feeling completely helpless on the other side of the glass from his fragile daughter.

Nick gave him a slight smile, watching Tori moving her tiny arms, surprised at how small she actually was. When he brought Libby to the hospital two weeks ago, he had to remain in the hall while Libby was shown to her baby sister, so he never actually got to see how tiny she was.

"She could fit in the palm of your hand." Nick noticed, leaning against the glass to get a closer close.

"Yeah." Warrick agreed. "She was only five weeks early, but they said it was probably because of her mother's health that she's so small. Her lungs aren't fully developed and there was some bleeding on her brain, but she's held on... so far." He spoke softly to his friend, looking at the reddish, purple colour of his daughter's skin, due to the lack of body fat on her tiny wrinkled form.

"How much does she weigh?" Nick asked him, suddenly fearing that he would see his own babies like this.

"Eh, when she was born around two pounds, three ounces." He remembered. "The doc said that she could have a few learning disabilities. Her skins too fragile to hold her at the moment, and she's probably gonna have to have a few surgeries before her first birthday, if she makes it that far."

"You have to think positive, man."

"How can I? I only just found out I was gonna have a daughter, and now I'm gonna have to watch her slowly die in that... tank. I wish we could fucking arrest this bitch for doing this." He suddenly snapped. "She didn't take care of herself during this pregnancy, and now her daughter is suffering through apnea, anemia, infections and on top of that, she could have hearing problems, learning difficulties and become mentally retarded from all the crap that woman shot into her body."

"Hey, hey, calm down." Nick stopped him, before he decided to thump the wall, disturbing the sleeping baby's in the next room. "She could be mentally retarded, or she could be completely normal, you don't know yet. There's no way that they can tell from a premature baby anyway. They're still developing. Danielle wasn't breathin' when she came out and they said that the oxygen starvation to her brain could have done some damage, but she's been perfectly fine. You have to stay strong for Tori. There's no chance in hell that this woman is goin' to be granted custody of this baby, after everything she did to her other children." The Texan tried to assure his best friend.

"You know the goddamn courts, Nick." He snapped. "They'll say that this newborn baby is better off with its mother and she hasn't been charged of anything with this child, so it doesn't count. The same way that spousal abuse never involves children. The husband can beat the shit out of his wife, but he's still allowed custody of his kids."

"She did this to Tori though. They were already chargin' her with child endangerment before, this just adds to that. You can make it so that Valerie never gets her hands on this child. Just talk to a lawyer... or social services." Nick suggested to him.

"And what, I become her father? I can't do the whole parent thing, Nicky. I'm not like you. I never dreamed of becoming a father when I grew up, and I still don't want to be one now."

"Well you are, so tough shit." Nick snapped back at him, trying to get his friend to wake up. "You're all that little girl has got as a parent. Valerie hasn't even been to visit her; she got the all clear and went home to continue with what she always does, while her baby is fighting for her life."

Giving his friend a slight smile, Warrick leant back against the wall behind him, smirking, "I guess Tori's pretty lucky to have an Uncle like you fighting in her corner, huh?"

"Well somebody has to." He nodded to him. "You've gotta get over this not ready to be a father phase, because you already are one and she needs you to survive. Victoria Rose Brown is your daughter Warrick, and she's dependin' on you to help her through this life."

"Okay, I get it." He raised his hands in a surrender. "But you'll help me out though, right? I'm not that good with kids or the Dad thing and I'm even worse with girls. The little ones, I'm good with the bigger ones."

"I'll bet." Nick rolled his eyes at him.

"Enough with the sarcasm, Nicky. I'm asking for your help here."

"And I will." He agreed, changing his attitude now that he finally got Warrick to listen to him. "But I'm no expert on parentin' or with girls either, man. Danielle's still runnin' circles around me and Libby changes her attitude towards me without warnin'. One minute she's all smiley and happy, then the next she suddenly snaps into this girly fit about somethin' I did, kinda like Greg with his hormones, only she doesn't have that much of an excuse."

"She's a teenager." Warrick chuckled, rolling his eyes at Nick. "You do have a lot to learn about teenage girls, Nicky."

"Yeah, but I'm expectin' two boys and I'm even worse with them. I've always been the favourite of girls, my nephews prefer their other uncles and I've never really gotten along with my male cousins."

"I'll help yah out on that part buddy, boys are easy to please. But of course you know that from Greg." He smirked, ducking back as Nick went to thump him. "C'mon man, I'm kidding. Anyway, speaking of Greg, where is he today? I thought you guys spend every waking moment together."

"Not every moment." Nick shook his head, brushing his thumb across his wedding ring. "He's at a birthin' class with his mother today."

* * *

"This is Donna and she'd like to share her birth story with you." Kimberly the class director smiled at the woman, giving her a seat at the front of the class to sit on, while she held her baby.

"Hello, everyone. This is my baby, Mason." Donna Koven introduced her baby to the class.

Greg thought he was an adorable little boy, especially in his cute little sailor's outfit that his mother had dressed him in. Baby Mason had short strands of black hair across the top of his head and every time his eyelids fluttered open, Greg caught sight of their soft blue grey colour, making him look so innocent and sweet.

It made him freak out a little when he realised he would be holding two of them in just a few short weeks though.

"He was born on the eighth of June; he's two and half weeks old now. He was born at two am, weighing four pounds and nine ounces. I wasn't due until July, but Mason started having problems with his breathing. I was given frequent steroid shots, until my doctor decided to induce labour with Pitocin. I was hooked up to every machine imaginable for the few hours, before Mason decided that he was ready." She chuckled softly, cradling her adorable little angel against her chest. "I was in labour for nine hours with him, until I heard his first cry. He was in NICU for four days for his breathing, but he was fine once he was out and he's doing great at home with me and my husband and our five year old, adopted son, Jackson."

"Thank you for sharing your story, Donna." Kimberly smiled at her then ushered the other new mother to the front of the class. "This is Anna and her twin girls, Maria and Amelia." She introduced her.

"This one is Maria." The nervous young mother indicated towards the one in her left arm. "She was born first at ten past eight, weighing four pounds, six ounces. And this is Amelia, she's only two pounds lighter than her sister, but she's four inches longer that her. She was born two minutes after her sister and they both had really different cries." A tear came to her eye, as she remembered the whole event.

"So, what's your birth story?" Kimberly asked her, admiring the two beautiful little girls in the woman's arms.

"Well, my contractions started while I was around my mother's house and I went into labour at midnight, on the first of May. When we arrived at the hospital, I was only one centimetre dilated, so the doctors suggested that I walk around a bit to try and break my waters myself, plus they were a little over booked, so they didn't have a delivery room ready for me. They eventually had to break my waters for me, which was extremely painful then the contractions started getting closer together. Just as my own doctor arrived, Maria made her first appearance. She cried as soon as she was out and her Daddy got to cut the umbilical cord. Then Amelia decided to push her own way out, and her cry was so different from her sister's, I could immediately tell that they were going to have such different personalities. The three of us spent six days in hospital, before we were finally released and we haven't had any troubles so far. They'll be three months old already next week, and I'm loving every moment of it. Even the breastfeeding, which is very hard when they want to feed at different times." She chuckled softly.

"That'll be you soon." Jean whispered to her son, indicating towards the babbling twins on the young mother's lap. Greg smiled at his mother beside him, finally feeling excited about holding his own twins, rather than scared.

The next woman showed off her two year son, Adrian with curly, bright orange hair and her newborn daughter, Katie with small curls of blonde hair herself. Greg's mother was only getting more and more excited by the sight of all these beautiful children, as she would be meeting children that could eventually be hers, while awaiting the arrival of the baby still growing inside of her.

* * *

Bursting into her mother's house uninvited, Libby stormed straight towards the living room, rolling her eyes as her mother was on the couch with yet another man. "Oh my gosh, the prodigal daughter returns." Valerie remarked, raising her wine glass in her daughter's direction.

"I wonna talk to you."

"I've got company, this is..." She pointed towards the man rubbing her thigh, trying to remember his name.

"I don't care, you've always got company. You've always been too busy to talk to me, but you're going to talk to me now." Libby commanded, angrily folding her arms across her chest. "How could you just leave Tori at the hospital like that, while you start whoring about again? She could be dying and you act like you don't even care. She's your baby, Valerie!"

"Whoa, you have a baby?" The man immediately stopped what he was doing, looking at the woman he picked up in a club with disgust.

"Several." Libby answered him, continuing to glare at her mother. "So, what's your explanation this time? You did the right thing, you think people should feel sorry for you, for what you've been through and congratulate you that you've never had an abortion?" She mocked her mother's past excuses. "I can't believe you just left her there. She's either gonna die or be shipped off into the system, where I'll never get to see her again."

"What do you care? You got your father. You've got everythin' you ever wanted with that homo, why are you still carin' about what I do? Why should it matter to you?"

"She's my sister! You," Libby pointed to the man. "Get out."

"And just who the hell are you?" He glared at her.

"I'm her daughter, now get out." She pointed towards the door, waiting for him to leave, before she looked towards her mother again. "I've cared about your babies more than you ever did. Your parents gave you everything you ever wanted. You had a childhood and friends who weren't ashamed of you, and then _you_ went and got yourself pregnant. Take some responsibility for that and stop playing the damn victim. I'm the victim. I've been changing diapers and looking after your babies, since I was eight years old. You were seventeen and you ditched me in a motel, while you went out to get laid. I was eight and I've never stopped caring about them, and Tori's no different."

"Sweetheart, I gave you everythin' you wanted."

"No you didn't! I didn't ask to be a mother to three little boys when I was still just a kid myself. I didn't know what they wanted or how to get food. You should have been the one doing it." Libby wiped away her tears, not wanting to give her mother the satisfaction of seeing her cry. "What did I ever do to you to deserve that? Did you ever love us at all? Did you ever think what would have been best for us?"

"What do you mean by that?" Valerie hissed at her. "I gave you a home, didn't I?"

"You dumped us everywhere we moved." Libby corrected her. "You've never been a mother to any of us. I've been their mother and I'll look after Tori a lot better than you ever could."

"You can't just blast in here and interrupt my life whenever you want. You chose to be with your father, so leave me the hell alone." Valerie retorted, lighting up a cigarette from the packet lying on the coffee table.

"That's all I've ever been to you, huh? One big interruption to your precious life."

"I didn't abort you, you should be grateful for that."

"You aborted me the second you found out I existed. You're too selfish and stuck up to ever care about anyone but yourself. You could have put me up for adoption to someone, who would give a damn. It didn't have to be this way."

"Get out." Valerie climbed to her feet, grabbing her daughter's forearm to force her out of the door. "How dare you say those things to me! My father would have beaten you until you were black and blue all over, if he ever heard you sayin' that to your parent."

"At least he cared about you, I didn't have anybody. You're not a mother... you're just a factory for children. You shouldn't have had us, if that's how you were going to treat us." Libby continued her argument, wanting to get it all out. She knew that it wouldn't affect her mother in any way, but it would make her feel so much better for finally standing up to her.

"I was just a kid; I didn't know what to..."

"I was a kid!" Libby screamed at her, pushing her mother's hands away from her. "I was eight years old when you dumped Garrett on me to raise. He screamed every night; of course you wouldn't know that, because you were out whoring about. I was ten when you added Emmett. He was the worst with his ear infections. I had to wake the landlady up to drive me to the hospital with him. Did you ever stop and think about us for even one second of your busy life?"

"Save your tears for your father."

"That's right, he _is_ my father and he's cared more about me in the past few months, then you ever did my entire life. You've screwed me up so much, that I can't even feel love anymore. You made me think that I was worthless, not worth any effort or time and now that's how I feel, all the time. You may have been the person that gave birth to me, but you mean nothing to me. I'm glad they took your children away from you; I hope you enjoy your lonely life, because we're never coming back to you!" Libby shouted, feeling as though a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She smiled at the sight of her speechless mother, then turned for the door, walking out of the house for the last time, hoping she would never see the woman again.

* * *

"Once the anaesthesia has taken effect, your belly will be swabbed with an antiseptic, and the doctor will make a small, horizontal incision in the skin above your pubic bone." Kimberly indicated towards her own scar, as she looked around at the group. "The doctor will then cut through the underlying tissue, slowly working his or her way down to your uterus, but they're very careful, so they won't cut the baby." She assured them. "When the doctor reaches your abdominal muscles, they'll separate them and spread them to expose what's underneath. Once the doctor reaches your uterus, they'll make a horizontal cut in the lower section, called a low transverse incision."

"Are you okay, honey?" Jean whispered to her nervous son, gently tapping his hand to get his attention. Greg gave her a nod as he placed his hands on his stomach, feeling queasy about the operation talk. "You've already had one of these before; I should be the one who's nervous."

"That's not what I'm nervous about, and you have nothing to be worried about." He assured her, looking towards the woman beside him, as she suddenly raised her hand to ask a question.

"My sister had a vertical scar," The woman pointed out to their class director, Kimberly. "She can't wear bikini's with it anymore."

"In rare circumstances they will make a vertical incision." Kimberly nodded to her. "This might be the case for you, if your baby is very premature and the lower part of your uterus is not yet thinned out enough to cut." She explained to her. "With a typical bikini line incision, the doctor will reach in and pull out your baby, which doesn't hurt the baby at all. Then you'll have the chance to see the baby once she or he has been cleaned up, while the doctor is delivering your placenta, before they close you back up with either stitches or staples, which are usually removed three days to a week later."

Jean gulped hard, reaching for her son's hand to hold beside her again.

"Are there any more questions about the c-section, before we move on to watch the video?" She queried, indicating towards the television screen behind her, that was ready and waiting with the video for the class to watch. "Yes." Kimberly pointed to the young lady sat just a few feet behind Greg.

"How much longer is the recovery for a c-section?" She asked her, clutching her young husband's hand, as she rubbed her eight month pregnant stomach.

"Usually around three to four days, depending on any complications or infections, which are very rare." She informed her, checking if anyone else had any questions, before she started the video. Greg was the one to grip his mother's hand this time, as he had never actually seen a real c-section being performed on a real woman.

The beginning of the video discussed the reasons why someone would have a c-section, while the rest of it was the surgery. He cringed as he saw the layers of the woman's skin being cut open while she was still awake, suddenly feeling very dizzy as he saw all the bright red organs inside, still working while the doctors pushed it aside to reach the uterus.

"Gregory, honey... are you okay?" Jean whispered, noticing her son looked a little pale.

Greg just responded with a nod, trying to keep himself from passing out as the doctors pushed on the woman's belly, while pulling what looked like a head from her stomach. A few seconds later, the baby's body was pulled out; the umbilical cord was cut and clamped, before they cleaned the baby, reminding him of the parts he did see during Danielle's birth.

"Oh my goodness." Jean gasped, clutching Greg's hand tighter as she thought of her baby going through that to deliver his child.

Once the gory video was finally over, Kimberly asked if they had any more questions, before she continued, "The important thing to remember is, that every birth is different. Whether you're planning a water birth, home birth or natural delivery, just remember that your baby is the one in control and they will always have other plans." She chuckled, making her class laugh too. "I have some videos here of a water birth, a natural birth without pain medication, vaginal birth of a ten pound baby and an induced labour birth that we're going to watch next."

Greg gulped hard, wishing he had never agreed to come to this class with his mother, as he didn't want to see women going through all of that.

* * *

Wiping her tears away, Libby knocked on the door again, stuffing her hands into her pockets as she waited for the door to open. A few seconds later, Daniel Sanders finally opened the door, giving her a surprised look. "Libby, is everything alright?" He immediately noticed the tears in her eyes, worrying that something awful had happened.

"Can I..." Libby's chest suddenly hitched, as she tried to speak. "Can I speak to Jean?" She asked him, struggling to hold in her tears. Daniel quickly nodded, ushering her into the house, before he went to find his wife.

"Jean! Jean!"

As soon as Jean appeared, Libby rushed towards her like a scared child running for her mother, wanting to be wrapped in her protective embrace.

"Oh, Libby. Honey, what's the matter?" Jean clutched the trembling child in her arms, looking towards her husband for answer, but he just gave her a clueless shrug. "Sweetheart, do you want me to call your father?" Libby responded by shaking her head. "Alright, I won't call him until you want me to." She promised, ushering her husband away with her hand, so she could talk to her alone. "C'mon, let's sit down in here." She gently pulled Libby through to the front room, sitting her down on the couch beside her. "Now, tell me all about it, sweetheart." The concerned grandmother whispered, clutching her tightly in her embrace.

* * *

"Nicky, wake up." Greg poked at the lifeless form beside him. "Nicky, I can't sleep." He poked him again, but the man didn't even change his breathing. "You know, it's really selfish when you do this, Nicky. You don't think that maybe you should wait for me to go to sleep first, before you go to sleep yourself? Nicky!" He shouted, shaking him this time. "What if I need a glass of water or something?"

"Get it yourself." Nick mumbled, giving out a grunt as he dozed off to sleep again.

"Some husband you are." Greg scowled at him, then turned his head to the bedside table as Nick's cell started to vibrate. He leant over the sleeping form to get it, eliciting another moan from the man's throat, as he was crushing him with his baby weight. "Hello?" Greg answered his phone for him.

"_Damn, I wanted Nick."_

"Mom, why are you calling, Nicky? Am I not good enough for you all of a sudden?" He pouted through the phone, feeling rejected by everyone.

"_Of course you are, but I called Nick's phone because I wanted to talk to Nick, so put him on the phone."_

"And what makes you think that a man too lazy to get up and get his husband a glass of water, will want to wake up and talk to you?"

"_Are you having one of your moods, honey?"_ She giggled at him. "_Would you just wake him up and tell him I have to talk to him, it's important."_

"So was I." Greg remarked, then reached over the pillow he had wedged against his stomach, flicking Nick in the chin. The older man gave out a groan of annoyance, so Greg did it again, only making the beast angrier. "Nicky, phone!"

"Take a message." He grunted.

"No." Greg playfully smacked the man on the back, but when he rolled over to get away from him, he decided to smack him on the backside, making a fully alert Nick roll back towards him, seizing hold of his hands. "Don't beat me up when my mother's on the phone." He quickly warned him, giving him a cheeky smile as he handed the phone over to him.

"What?" Nick groaned into the phone, resting his head against Greg's shoulder.

"_Don't you speak to me like that young man, tired or not, your in laws deserve respect."_ She quickly scolded him, before changing to a serious tone. "_Honey, Libby's over mine and she's quite upset. She was supposed to be sleeping at her friend, Casey's tonight, right? Well instead, she decided to take a little detour to see her mother, if you can call her that."_

"What happened?" Nick shot to a sitting position, fully alert now.

"_Well . . . she stood up to the bitch... pardon my French. But it took a lot out of her and she's very upset. I think you should come and get her. She's finally stopped crying, but that's probably because she's dehydrated. The poor girl, her tummy's in knots too."_

"I'll be right there." Nick tossed Greg the phone then climbed off the bed to get dressed, not noticing the increasingly angry look on his lover's face as he did. "I'll be back in a few minutes, baby."

"What about my glass of water?" Greg pouted at him.

"Get it yourself." Nick playfully slapped the lazy arses foot, giving him a wide grin. "I'll be back in a minute." He promised him, blowing him a kiss from the door, before he left.

"I'm supposed to be on bed rest, Asshole." Greg muttered under his breath. "I'm too fat to get out of bed and it's all your fault, Stokes!" He shouted after him, glancing towards the bedroom door as it suddenly creaked open. "Danielle." He smiled surprised at the sleepy little girl.

"Where Dada go?" She asked, looking up at him with her big puppy dog eyes.

"Well... he didn't actually tell me, but he'll be back in a minute." He assured her, struggling to sit up so he could lift her onto the bed. "You still love me, doncha?"

Danielle gave him a wide smile as he pressed multiple kisses to her forehead. "Yeah."

"Good." He smiled back, gently tickling her. "Pity you're not tall enough to reach the sink yet, you could go and get Daddy a glass of water then, huh?" He cheekily grinned, cuddling her tightly as he wrapped the covers around them both.

* * *

Once Nick arrived at the Sanders' household, he hurried inside, finding Libby curled up on the sofa with a hot chocolate, thanks to her loving grandmother. He took a seat beside her, giving her a concerned look.

"Jean call you?" She presumed.

Nick gave her a slight nod. "Only because she's worried about you. So, what happened with Casey? You told me..."

"I had to talk to her." Libby interrupted him, deciding to explain everything that happened to him.

"Well, I'm proud of you for doin' that, but I really wish you hadn't." Nick spoke softly, looking at his tearful daughter on the sofa beside him. "I wish I could stand up to my parents like that, honey. You're very brave. I coulda come with you though." He pointed out to her, slowly putting his arm around her shoulders to pull her closer into his embrace. "What are you cryin' for, honey? You can't be cryin' for _her_. You stood up to her, you should be proud of yourself."

"She'll never change." Libby slowly rested her head against Nick's shoulder, sniffling back the tears from her eyes.

"You knew that goin' in, or you woulda given her a chance to apologise and make everythin' better, am I right?" Nick gently rested his chin on her head, holding her a little tighter in his arms. "I'm proud of what you did, honey. You may not be able to change her, but you'll always be better than her. You know that, right?"

"She never loved me though. My friends always ask why I even care, but they don't know what it's like to have a mother who never loved you." Libby turned to give Nick a proper hug, closing her eyes against his chest as he held her tightly.

Nick held her tightly for what seemed like hours in his comforting fatherly embrace, before he whispered, "I love you, Libby," pressing a kiss to her forehead, just like he did with Danielle all the time. "And I'm not just sayin' that because I think it's what you wonna hear, I really do love you, honey. Nobody will ever care about you more than I do."

"Thank you." Libby smiled against his chest. "I'm sorry I got your shirt wet." She noticed her tears had soaked into his sleeve.

"It's a better present than the one Danielle used to leave me." He smirked, continuing to hold his daughter tightly in his arms.

"Hey, Dad." She surprised him with the parental nickname. "I love you too."

Nick gave her a proud smile, trying to suppress the urge to cry himself. "C'mon then, we better get home. I forgot to put a bowl of water out for Greg." He teased, knowing Greg would thump him if ever heard him say that, but after three years together, the younger man's personality was starting to rub off on him.

* * *

**Thanks so much for your reviews on the last chapter! I'm really glad you enjoyed the big surprises from that chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one too, please leave me a review to tell me what you thought of it :D**

**I've just published '_Family Of Secrets_' as a paperback book and E-book. There's 29 chapters in the published version, there was only 26 in the version on here and I renamed Nick to Joey and Greg to Micky, but the story is pretty much the same. I will be writing a sequel for the published version in the future. I decided that I'd rather just write one version the way I want it, rather than keeping the characters true to the show, so I'll have more freedom with my writing.**

**The links to buy the published version are on my Fanfiction profile, right beneath 'Modern Murder', the first book I published, if you would like to purchase a copy. If not then you should definitely check out the cover I made for it, I think its one of my best designs. :D**

**Thanks so much!**

**~ Holly**


	28. Chapter 28: The Long Wait

**Chapter Twenty Eight: The Long Wait**

Waking up to the sounds of soft giggles, Greg fluttered his eyes open, smiling as he saw Danielle rushing into his bedroom with her white fluffy, hooded towel wrapped around her, giggling as she escaped the clutches of her father's embrace.

As Nick finally caught up to the little monster, he swept her into his arms, cradling her against his chest, like a baby. "Hey you," Nick smiled in his husband's direction, plopping their toddler down onto the bed beside him. "Did you have a nice sleep, baby?"

"Uh huh." Greg grinned, pulling Danielle into his arms for a quick hug, before Nick started to dress her. "I thought she had a bath last night?"

"Yeah, but you know how she gets after breakfast." The Texan smiled, drying his daughter's fingers and toes with the towel, before he playfully ruffled it through her hair. "I had to give her another one to wash the oatmeal from her hair, elbows and face."

"There's this new invention called a bib that often comes in handy, Nicky. You might wonna try one some time." He pointed out to his husband, just as Danielle gave out a high pitched shriek.

"I don't know where you keep em." Nick defended himself, standing Danielle up on the bed. He listened to her cute baby babble a moment, before he lifted a t-shirt down over her head then helped her into her navy blue dungarees. Danielle did her best to help him with the clips, but Nick found it easier to do it himself, without her fiddly little fingers in the way.

He carefully dried her hair next, braiding it into pigtails either side of her head, with his husband's supervision.

"Daddy's getting good at that, huh?" Greg smiled at his beautiful little girl, pulling her into his arms for another hug, while Nick pulled some socks and sneakers onto her feet. "So, what are your plans for the day?" He looked towards his husband.

"Well, we've got our Baby Dolphins class this mornin'." Nick reminded him. "Then we're goin' grocery shoppin' and we'll be home in time to make you lunch." He assured him, touching a kiss to his forehead. "Would you like me to get you anythin' before we leave?" Greg shook his head. "Make sure that you call me if you need anythin'. Or your parents are home all day; you can call them if you need anythin'."

"Nicky, I'll be fine." Greg smiled at his over protective husband. "Go, have a good time. I've only got a few weeks left on bed rest, before I have to go to the hospital. You don't have to worry about me. I love you."

"Love you too." Nick whispered, pressing their lips together for a quick kiss. "Say goodbye to Daddy, Princess. We're leavin' in five minutes. I just gotta go make sure that Libby's ready for school."

"Okay." Greg hugged Danielle again, smiling as she nestled into his embrace. "Have fun with Daddy today, Munchkin. And don't give him any trouble." Danielle gave him an innocent little look, acting as though she was always a perfectly behaved little angel.

"Bye, Greg!" Libby called from the door.

"Bye, Libby." He waved back to her, pressing another kiss to Danielle's forehead, before Nick took her away. "Don't have too much fun without me." He warned the two of them.

"As if." Nick stole a kiss from his husband's lips, before he left with his daughters, feeling guilty about leaving his lover alone for yet another day.

Unfortunately, the feeling continued for the next week, as he had to continue to leave his very pregnant husband in order to go to work, to shop and take Libby to and from school.

When it was finally time for Greg to go into the hospital, the younger man's nerves returned, as he was getting more and more fearful about bringing his twins into the world. "Baby, it'll be fine. You know it will." His husband assured him, setting his empty hospital bag down on the bed. "What did the doctor say you needed to bring again?"

"Comfortable clothes for plenty of bed rest, pillows, blankets... I don't wonna go."

"You have to, they wonna keep the heartbeats monitored, until it's time for your c-section." Nick reminded him, searching his bedside cabinet for the checklist he had prepared himself, from his own research. "I'll be with you as much as I can, baby. The time will fly by." He assured him, leaning across the bed to press his lips to Greg's forehead. "Which one of these outfits do you wonna take for the twins?"

"We might not be able to take them home straight away." Greg reminded him, looking towards the door as Libby walked in, with Danielle in her arms. She set her down on the bed then handed Greg the phone from her other hand.

"Phone for you."

"Let me guess, my mother?" He remarked. As Libby gave him a nod, Greg rolled his eyes, before he answered, "No I'm not refusing to go, before you start telling me off."

"_I wasn't going to say anything, sweetheart."_ His mother defended herself, chopping vegetables in her kitchen, with the phone pressed against her shoulder. "_I was just going to tell you that I was going to bring you dinner for your first night in hospital, and I was going to ask if there was something specific that you wanted to eat. I'm making pot roast for your father and grandparents, but I didn't know what you would like..."_

While Greg continued to talk to his mother, Nick packed his hospital bag for him, getting help from Danielle with the outfits the twins would wear, while Libby helped to fold Greg's clothes, double checking her father's list, to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything that he needed.

Once Greg hung up on his mother, Nick helped him off the bed, getting him out to the car, where Danielle and Libby were sat waiting. "Did you lock up the house?" He asked Libby, watching her strapping her baby sister into her car seat.

"Uh huh, I checked the back door and all the windows too." She assured him, strapping herself in. "Dad, can we stop by and see Tori, while we're there?"

"Sure. Warrick said she's havin' surgery today though." Nick reminded her, climbing into his own seat, once Greg was strapped in beside him.

"Is she doing any better?" Greg asked them both, feeling a tight discomfort in his ribs now that he was forced to sit up right in the car.

"She's still on the ventilator and everythin'. She just had surgery on her lungs today. She's almost three weeks old now, right?" Nick looked at Libby in his rear view mirror, watching her giving him an absent nod. He gave her a concerned look, before he drove off towards the hospital, ready to check his husband in.

"Your c-section is still scheduled for the third, which is in five days." Doctor Simpson reported, once Greg was hooked up to all the machines, in his own private room.

"What's that for?" Greg pointed to the weird looking belt the nurse was putting around his stomach.

"It'll monitor your babies' heartbeats and the contractions in your uterus."

"Contractions?" Greg looked between the two of them confused, as he hadn't been feeling anything.

"Mild contractions, you probably can't feel them." His Doctor assured him. "We'll keep you monitored and on bed rest for the next few days. I have your c-section scheduled for seven thirty am, on the third, unless any other problems present. But you shouldn't be concerned, just get plenty of rest for the big day. Do you have any more questions for me, before I leave?" He looked between Nick and Greg.

"Can I be in the room with him again?" Nick immediately asked him.

Doctor Simpson nodded, giving the younger man in the bed a reassuring smile. "We won't do anything, until Nick's at your side. Don't worry about it. Danielle and Libby can't though." He pointed to the girls across the hall, sat in the waiting room with their uncle Warrick. "I'll come by and check on you tomorrow, Greg." He smiled at him, shaking Nick's hand, before he left the room.

Nick gently lifted Greg's hand from beside him, delicately brushing his fingertips around the IV in the back of his hand. "See, everythin's gonna be okay, baby." He whispered to his lover. "It's just five days."

"Easy for you to say." The younger man muttered, struggling to get comfortable against the crinkly hospital sheets. "You're not the one who has to lie here for hours doing nothing. You get to come and go as you please."

"I'll tell you what, if we ever decide to have _another_ baby... in the very... very distant future . . . I'll be the one to carry it, okay?" He whispered to him, secretly hoping that they wouldn't. "As soon as they perfect the male pregnancy, I'm gonna carry your baby, G. That's a promise that I'm..."

"As if they'd ever perfect the male pregnancy." Greg cut him off, rolling his eyes at him. "And I know you're just saying that. What sane guy in the world would ever want to get pregnant? Especially you, you love your body."

"I love _your_ body." Nick corrected him. "And I'm serious, Greg. I would consider it an honour to carry your baby inside of me."

"Okay, you're on, Stokes. You're carrying our next baby." The younger man grinned widely at him, shaking his hand to seal the deal.

"That's Sanders." Nick pointed to his wedding ring. "And you should know that I'd do anythin' for you, Greg."

"You better, you promised after all."

* * *

"Daniel, look at this one." Jean called out to her husband, waiting for him to hurry over to where she was sat, before she started reading the child's profile to him, "Abigail is a loving and caring person. She enjoys dancing, basketball and soccer. She loves spending time with her sibling, and wants a strong female role model, to whom she can talk to and who will share values with her." She smiled, looking round at him. "Sounds like me, right?"

"Sibling?" Daniel inquired, leaning over his wife's shoulder to look at the thirteen year olds profile.

"Yes, she has a younger sister, Hope, who has the most adorable little smile." Jean brought up her profile, showing him the picture of the gapy toothed little girl, before she went on to read, "Hope is seven years old. She likes spending time with her older sister and doing family activities with some of the friends she has made. Hope is a social butterfly, looking for an outgoing family that likes to have a lot of fun... that's us in a nutshell, right?" She grinned round at him.

"They're in New York." Daniel pointed it out to her. "You're supposed to be looking at the Nevada State children list, not the New York one."

"They came up in a random search." She defended herself, favouriting the page for later. "I looked all through the Nevada State listing. There's only children available who come with large amounts family. Like I found this one adorable little boy, but he has four older sisters, and one of the sisters are a mother herself, and she's not even the oldest of the girls. Fifteen years old, and she already has a one year old. I want to adopt them all so badly, but the adoption agency likes to keep them together, so we can't take them. We just don't have the room."

"Don't feel guilty about it, honey. It's not your fault. We can't adopt every child who needs a home." He pointed out to her, for the hundredth time.

"I know. I know." She sighed softly, doing another search of the Las Vegas area. "I've favourited so many of their profiles at the moment, I can't even remember which ones I _haven't_ looked at."

Daniel shook his head at her, knowing this was going to be the longest part of the process, as she couldn't just pick one of the children, she wanted them all.

"What's that one?" He pointed out one of them that was nearby, unlike the ones in New York.

Jean looked to where he was pointing, reading the profile, "Eh... Paige is twelve years old. She's a very social youth and enjoys getting to know people. She loves to talk and can talk to anyone about anything on her mind... Ooh, I love her already." She giggled. "Paige takes pride in her dance classes and she especially loves shoes. Paige has the qualities of a natural born leader, and because of this; she sometimes has trouble with her peers." She smiled at her husband, then moved onto the next child's profile. "Drew, I like that name. But not for a girl. It sounds too masculine."

"I had a girlfriend called, Drew once."

Jean looked round at her husband surprised. "You never told me about her."

"Because I was eight." He chuckled softly. "When my parents moved to LA, she was the first girl who talked to me. We sat together at lunch every day."

"And you considered her a girlfriend?" She giggled. "You were eight; you didn't know what girlfriends or boyfriends were."

"Yeah we did. We didn't go out on dinner dates or plan romantic evenings, but we did everything together. The kid's version of girlfriend and boyfriend. Like Greg with that Daisy." He reminded her.

"Ugh... I hated her." Jean rolled her eyes at the memory of her. "She'd always leave Greg in the playhouse with the crying babies, while she got to play on the jungle gym."

Daniel chuckled at the memory, remembering his five year old son's complaints about never wanting to be a father or a husband, because his wife was a nag and the babies never stopped crying. "What's all that stuff down there?" He pointed towards the bottom of the page.

"Oh, that's whether they have special needs, their medical history and a bit about their background." Jean explained, scrolling further down, so he could read it. "Drew has twin brothers, younger than her." She pointed out the attached profiles. "Donovan and Dustin, eight years old. See, there's always a catch when you find an amazing child. They have twin brothers with ADHD."

"You think we can't handle two boys with ADHD?"

Jean shook her head, "Not with a new born and this little girl. It's too much work, especially for people at our age. They'd probably never allow the adoption to go through."

"Go back to the search engine at the beginning." Daniel instructed, then took over on the mouse, to take control. He changed the search to individual boys and girls in the Nevada area, helping his wife to search for a child that was right for them.

* * *

After looking around the house of their victim, Nick stepped back into the front room, giving the husband a suspicious look, before he asked, "You were the one who filed the missin' persons report this mornin'?"

"Yeah, my wife never came home after work last night. She was supposed to pick our daughter up, after band practice at five from the school, but she never showed up." The husband explained, taking a seat on his sofa. "My daughter, Rachel . . . she called me to come and get her, because her mother was late . . . and that's when I started to worry about, Caroline, my wife. She has a routine, she always sticks it. She's one of those people who never strays from their routine."

"Can we talk to your daughter?" Captain Brass asked him, looking around the room, as the husband looked very nervous with the officers in his house.

"No, she's at school." The man shook his head. "I don't understand, why are you asking me all these questions? Have you found my wife or not?" He looked between the two of them, watching the glances between them, before Nick cleared his throat to speak,

"We've found your wife." The Texan grasped his hands together, explaining, "She was murdered. The janitor at your daughter's school found her body this mornin'."

"My..." The man looked genuinely surprised by the news, making Nick doubt that he had anything to do with it, while Brass still had his suspicions.

"Mr Phelps, what size shoe do you wear?" Warrick suddenly entered the room, after looking over the bedrooms. Nick knew he was probably going to ask that from the boot prints they found at the crime scene, but he had already checked for himself.

"Why do you ask?"

"Routine question." Warrick answered him. "So, what size do you wear, Mr Phelps?"

"Ten. Why does my shoe size matter?" The husband looked around at them all confused.

"Alright, thanks for your help. We'll be in touch." Warrick warned him, then made his way out of the house, with Nick a few paces behind him.

"Prints at the crime scene were eights." Nick reminded his partner, as they reached his truck. "Do you really think that, Mr Phelps coulda done it?"

"I talked to the neighbours; they said Mr and Mrs Phelps are loud. Always shouting and fighting. Sara pulled Mrs Phelps medical records; she's been to the hospital multiple times for broken bones, bruises and stitches from this guy." Warrick pointed out to him. "It's obvious it's him."

"He doesn't seem the type."

"They never do, Nicky." He smiled at the younger man, before he climbed into the passenger seat of his partner's truck. "C'mon, let's get back to the lab and see if Doc Robbins has our autopsy results yet."

"Alright, we'll call you later, Jim." Nick waved over to the detective, before he climbed into his truck and started to drive them back to the lab.

"Hey, how's Greg doing, by the way?" Warrick queried, turning the Texan's hick music down, so he could talk to him. "He's still in the hospital, right?"

"Yeah. He's doin' okay. We got three more days left, until his c-section. They wanted to keep an eye on the babies in the last few days, that's why he has to stay there. I hate leavin' him there alone, but it's what's best for the babies right now."

"Who's looking after, Danielle then?"

"Greg's parents. His mother isn't due for another couple of weeks, and they offered to take her instead of us puttin' her in day care all the time. I'm goin' up the hospital after work to see him, if you wanted to come along. I gotta take Libby to get her braces taken off first, but it shouldn't take too long."

"I've gotta check on Tori too." Warrick reminded him of the daughter he kept forgetting about himself. "But I'm sure I can stop by to see how Greggo's doing. As long as he doesn't give me any shit about sleeping with the mother of your first child."

"He won't." Nick assured him, pulling into the parking garage of the crime lab. "Just as long as you don't give him shit in return."

"As if I would." He innocently smiled at him, before he climbed out of the truck, returning to the lab, where Sara was waiting for them. "Whatcha got for us, Sara?"

"Those medical reports on the wife, along with the outgoing phone calls list. Archie found some messages on Mrs Phelps cell phone from a lover that wasn't her husband." She handed the highlighted list over to Nick, explaining, "Looks like Mrs Phelps called lover boy, whenever her husband was out of the house. Calls are sometimes more than two hours long and these other ones that only last two minutes, are from a local motel, halfway between their houses."

"You found an ID on lover boy?" Warrick asked her.

"Yep, one Timothy Muller." She handed over the printed driver's licence she had on him. "He lives with his wife, Jennifer Muller, who recently just filed for divorce. And get this, Mr Andrew Phelps, the victims husband, is Jennifer's boss."

"No way. We should call Mr Phelps back in for questioning, you still think he isn't the type for murder, Nicky?" Warrick grinned at him, before he hustled down the hall to give Brass a call, to bring Mr Phelps in for more questioning, along with the Muller's, as they could be connected to the crime.

Nick glanced at the time on his way down to the morgue, wishing his shift would hurry up and finish, so he could get back to the hospital to be with his husband.

* * *

"Hi, honey." Jean entered her son's room, giving him a smile as he turned his head to face her. "I brought you lots of food to eat and," She turned her head towards the door, smiling as her husband walked in with their granddaughter in his arms. "A certain little angel who's very eager to see her Daddy."

"You guys didn't have to come down here." Greg struggled to sit up straight, reaching his arms out for Danielle, as his father lifted her onto the bed with him. "Hello, baby girl." He pulled her into his embrace.

"Dada." Danielle cuddled him back.

"Of course we did, you're all by yourself, until Nicky gets off work." Jean pointed out to him, setting the food down on the tray table, while her son clutched his little girl tightly. "And it's really no trouble, sweetheart. We'd love to spend time with our first born for a little longer, before our family expands. Don't we, honey?" She smiled round at her husband.

"We sure would, and Nick told us he didn't want you to be alone all day." Daniel pressed a kiss to his son's forehead, before he helped his wife into her seat. "How much longer do you have to wait for this c-section then, Greg?"

"Three days, unless their heart rates drop." He pointed to the monitor beside his bed. "The Doc came in today and said Baby B's heart rate has dropped slightly, but he told me not to worry. He gave me a shot of something, I can't remember what, but it's supposed to relax the contractions I've been having too." Greg explained to them, holding his baby girl closer against his chest. "How much longer until you're due, Mom?"

"Eleven days." She excitedly announced. "The nurseries all set up and waiting for this little one, and we're meeting some children in the months after that. Actually, would you like to see pictures of the children we'll be meeting next week?" Without waiting to hear his answer, Jean dug around in her purse for the pictures, eager to show them to her son.

"Children? As in plural?" He asked her surprised, reaching his hand out for them.

"Yes, honey. You're gonna get two little sisters." His mother grinned widely at him. "We've found the perfect two little girls. Well actually, we found the perfect one little girl from the profile pages, then we found out she has a little sister through the agency, and we're meeting them next week." Jean pulled the profiles she had printed from her purse, handing the first one over to her son.

"She's been going round telling everyone that they're her daughters already." Daniel smirked.

Greg smiled at him, then started to read through the profile of the little girl, wondering if she really would be his younger sister. "Alexandria is a bright young eleven year old girl; full of love and joy. Alexa loves art and enjoys drawing and painting. She also enjoys journaling and scrapbooking. She is a bright and outspoken individual, described as having a sense of humour and has taken an interest in playing basketball and hiking. You hate hiking." He pointed out to his mother. "And you said that people who scrapbook are weird."

"Yeah, but your father doesn't hate hiking... and scrapbooking is just preserving memories in books, so it's not that weird. I'd never do it of course; it can be a father – daughter activity." She chuckled, giving her husband a smile.

"Alexa strongly desires to be adopted with her younger sister, into a loving and caring home. Where's the sisters profile?" Greg queried, grabbing it from his mother's hands as she pulled it from her bag. "Alexa's younger sister, Mackayla is seven years old. She is so sweet that many people believe she is part angel... that means she's gonna be a little monster." He warned his parents.

"Oh honey, little angels always are." His mother teased, looking directly at him and her grandchild.

Greg rolled his eyes at her, then continued to read through the child's profile. "Mackayla enjoys drawing and is a very imaginative child. She is outgoing and loves being the centre of attention... a bit like someone I know." He smiled at his mother, giggling as his father nodded in agreement. "Mackayla loves playing outdoors. She is very friendly and quickly attaches to others. She will need support and direction to increase her ability and skills with some areas of daily life." He finished then looked at the rest of it. "What's the development – severe part?" He gave his parents a quizzical look.

"Oh, she's got dyslexia and ADHD..." Jean rushed to explain, "But that's not a reason not to love her, right? She's not retarded like most people presume; she's just... a little slower at learning than others."

"You know that retarded means slow, right?"

Jean glared at her son. "Of course I know that, but she's only seven. They don't have the right to stop her from getting a family, just because she has a few learning disabilities. Nobody knows how she's gonna turn out, and with a little love and attention, she'll go far. If you had dyslexia, honey, I'd still love you. And you'd love Danielle no matter what, am I right?"

"Yeah." Greg nodded, watching his three year old fiddling with the zipper of his sweatshirt in her curious little hands.

"What do you think of them then?" Jean asked him, pointing to the picture of Mackayla, with very dark brown hair to her shoulders, with pink butterfly clips pinning it back from her face, while her slightly older sister, Alexa had longer hair in the same colour with the same dark brown eyes. "They're cute aren't they? Couldn't you see them as your little sisters, honey?"

"I guess." He nodded. "They look kinda like you and Dad, so I'm sure they'll fit in."

"Thank you, honey. I'm glad you like them. Now I have a Gregory, Alexandria and a Mackayla." She smiled in excitement. "I can't wait for this little one." She rubbed her stomach.

"You know that nothings been signed yet." Daniel reminded her, not wanting her to give her hopes up. "You haven't even met them yet, they might not be the perfect match for us."

"I know they are, just by looking at them." She assured her husband, then spotted Nick in the hallway. "Ooh, look who's here, Gregory. It's that darling husband of yours . . . with chocolate doughnuts?" She gave him a questioning look, as he entered the room.

"Greg texted me about a cravin'." The Texan smirked, holding out the doughnuts for his husband, before he pressed a kiss to his temple. "How are you feelin'?"

"Much better." Greg smiled at him, feeling a little embarrassed that Nick kissed him in front of his parents, but neither of them seemed to mind. "How was work?"

"Another dead end case." Nick shrugged, taking a seat beside Greg.

"You wonna see pictures of Greg's little sisters?" Jean immediately held the pictures out to him, watching the Texan looking at her surprised, before he took the pictures off her hands to take a look at. "That's Alexandria and that's Mackayla."

"You've adopted them?"

"No, they haven't even met em yet." Greg answered for her. "They're _potential_ little sisters."

"They're very beautiful." Nick smiled at Jean and Daniel. "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Nicky. And aren't you late for something." Jean tapped her watch, watching Nick giving her a confused look. "Your _other_ daughter? A little older than this one, long hair... sunny smile." She glared at him. "I believe she was getting her braces..."

"Oh, right." Nick quickly climbed to his feet, pressing a kiss to Danielle and Greg's foreheads, before he hurried out the room, with his phone in his hands, texting an apology to Libby for being late to pick her up.

"Are you sure he's ready for twins, sweetheart?" Jean looked round at her son. "He doesn't seem all that together. He can't even keep appointments with the two kids he's got. How's he gonna cope with four?"

"Trust me, he's ready. He's just trying to keep it all together for me. I can't wait for these babies to be out, so I can be in charge again. I hate leaning on him for everything."

"Oh honey, that's what husbands are for."

* * *

After sitting in the waiting room of Libby's orthodontist for the past half hour, Nick gave out a heavy sigh, rubbing the sleep from his eyes after working for the past sixteen hours without any sleep. "I feel like I've had these things all my life." Libby suddenly spoke up, folding her arms across her chest, the same way her father was beside her. "My braces that is." She smiled at his confused expression. "Do you think it'll hurt?"

"Greg said it didn't." He shook his head. "He said it was quicker and easier than gettin' them put in. I never had em, so I don't know."

"I don't want a retainer or any wisdom teeth extracted. My friend had to have her wisdom teeth pulled, right after her braces were out. She couldn't eat anything for days."

"You don't have wisdom teeth." He pointed out to her, as she had told him less than ten minutes ago, during her nervous babbling. "Just don't worry about it, okay?"

"Are you worried?" Libby gave him a curious look. "You've been fidgeting since we got here."

"I'm fine." Nick leant further back in his seat, stopping his legs from shaking. "How much longer are they gonna keep us waitin' though? The appointment was booked half an hour ago. _We_ were on time. Where the hell is the doctor?"

"Is Greg okay?" She turned herself to look at her father, fearing that something had gone wrong that he wasn't telling her about. "You said when you picked me up, that he was fine. You're not lying to..."

"No, I'm not." He shook his head, rubbing his eyes again. "He is okay, I swear. I'm just... tired and worried about... everythin' I guess." He shrugged round at her, watching her giving him a slight smile. "What?"

"Nothing." She smiled wider, leaning against the sofa cushions beside him. "I was just thinking about what I've been waiting for longer; to get my braces removed or to just sit and talk with my father."

Nick's lips spread into a slight smile, as he lifted his arm to put it around her shoulders. "So, which is it?" He curiously asked her.

"Well, I haven't always had my braces," Libby leant into her father's embrace, giving him a smile as he held her securely against his side. "But I always wanted a father."

"Liberty Larson." The Doctor finally called her name, ushering her towards his office.

Libby climbed to her feet, giving the doctor a nervous look, as she ran her tongue across the braces on her teeth, wondering if she would miss them once they were gone. She turned to look at Nick behind her, asking, "Hey Dad, can you come in with me?"

Nick gladly climbed to his feet, following her into her orthodontist's office, where he held her hand while her braces were removed, feeling more like a father to her than he had before.

* * *

**Sorry for the long wait on this chapter. I've been busy, and my beta couldn't get her email to work for her. So I beta'd this chapter myself, sorry for any mistakes. **

**Please review if you enjoyed it. I'll try and update as soon as I can :D**

**Have a GREAT weekend!**

**~ Holly**


	29. Chapter 29: New Life

**Chapter Twenty Nine: New Life**

After bragging about her beautiful new daughters that she was eager to adopt, for a few more hours, Jean finally decided to call it a night and head home with her husband. She kissed and hugged her son, son in law and grandchildren, before she grabbed her purse and made her way off towards the door, with her husband in tow.

In the car drive home, she felt a twinge in her stomach, but she decided not to worry her husband with it, as she was probably just hungry, since all the food she brought with her, was for her son.

Later that night, she received another jolt to her stomach. This time, she decided to wake her husband up, so he could time her contractions. Daniel held her hand through the night, supporting her through each one. He called their Doctor the next morning, informing him that her contractions were still ten minutes apart, but her water hadn't broken yet.

Doctor Lambert told them to stay put for now, not wanting them to wait in hospital for hours on end, as her contractions were still very far apart.

"Another one, another one!" Jean called out to her husband.

Daniel rushed back to the bedroom, checking the time on his watch. "That's... eight minutes. I packed slippers, socks, night gown, your hair stuff and toiletries." He double checked her hospital bag. "What else will you need?"

"Um... did you get me a change of clothes?" She asked, while texting on her cell phone to her mother. "Don't forget the maternity pads and things." She pointed to the bag by her dresser.

Daniel nodded to her, then made his way over to her closet, selecting her something to wear in the hospital. He grabbed the bag by her dresser, emptying the contents into her hospital bag, before he looked towards her again. "Now, what do we need for the baby?"

Jean chuckled softly, shaking her head at him. "Anyone would think you've never had a baby before, Daniel."

"The last one was nearly thirty years ago." He reminded her. "And we were only eighteen; your mother packed your bag for you."

"That's right, and she just texted back." Jean held up her phone. "We need the car seat, a stretchy all in one outfit, because we don't know how big he or she will be. Diapers, booties, baby blanket, those little glove things, a hat..."

"For one baby?"

"A baby needs a lot of things, sweetie." She laughed, immediately stopping as another contraction ripped through her body. Daniel quickly climbed onto the bed with her, holding her hand, while he helped her with her breathing after all the classes they took together. "How far... apart are they now?" She panted for breath.

"Um... seven minutes."

"Are you timing them wrong, or are they really getting closer together?"

"I'm timing them right." Daniel protested, handing the watch over to her, so she could do it herself. "I'll go grab some of the baby stuff from down the hall. Will we need those little vest things?"

"The bodysuits? You could grab one for while they're in the hospital." She nodded, waving him off then reached for his watch to look at the time for herself. "Are they supposed to only last a minute each time? I'm sure they were longer than that with Greg."

"They get more intense as you get closer." Daniel reminded her, putting the baby's things into the hospital bag too. "I gotta go and get the car seat; it's still in the box..."

"Daniel." She rolled her eyes at him. "I told you to check the restraint things on it last weekend."

"It's brand new, how bad could they be?" He pecked a kiss to her cheek, then hurried down the stairs to unwrap the car seat. He checked the straps and things first, then set it down by the door, ready and waiting for when they finally left for the hospital.

He hurried up the stairs again to check on his wife, watching her breathing through another contraction. "Do you think I should call, Doctor Lambert again?" He suggested, taking a seat beside her to support her. Jean nodded her head, gripping the covers beside her tightly. "How far?"

"Still seven minutes. Don't forget the camera." She reminded him, giving him a smile as he reached for the phone. "Did you already pack my change of clothes, toothbrush...?"

"Yep, I got all that." He assured her, dialling the Doctor's number. "Do you think we should call, Greg?"

"Already texted him." Jean grinned at him. "He said his little brother or sister must want to get out, before their nephews do. He's at the hospital alone for the moment, but I texted Nick too, he's dropping Libby off at school, before he takes Danielle up the hospital to see Greg."

"He doesn't have work?"

"Nope. He's got the week off." Jean reached for Daniel's watch again, waiting for her next contraction, as it had been six minutes since her last. "I wish this little one would have waited a little longer, I wanted to help Greg out with the twins, for his first few weeks with them. He's gonna be in hospital for a while after the c-section, then he's gonna be on his own with three babies, while Nick returns to work."

"He'll be fine, and Nick's not gonna just leave him to it." Daniel assured her, before he spoke into the phone. "Yes, this is Daniel Sanders, calling for Doctor Lambert." He stepped out into the hall to inform the Doctor of what was going on, before he returned to the room to double check Jean's bag. "Okay, he's gonna meet us at the hospital."

"We have to go now?" She complained, struggling to slide herself towards the edge of the bed. "But my mother's still in LA. She's not even close to getting here."

"You can do this without your mother, honey." He assured his wife, helping her up from the bed. "And she's gonna meet us at the hospital anyway, you know she wouldn't miss this."

"What about Alexa and Mackayla? We can't cancel on them, and we can't juggle a one week old and the adoption process."

"Yes we can, and we'll worry about that when we get to it." He pulled her arm around his shoulders, helping her to stand, then grabbed for her bag, so they could leave. "Alexa and Mackayla knew we were having a baby, and they know that we still want them. They'll understand, and we won't let them down." Daniel assured her, helping her into the car. "Just worry about this baby for now, not your mother, Greg or the girls, just the baby."

"I love it when you say the girls, it's like they're already ours." Jean grinned at him, leaning back in her seat, so Daniel could strap her in. "Daniel, don't forget the car seat." She pointed towards the seat, still sat in the doorway.

Her husband closed the car door on her, then hurried back to the house, grabbing the car seat to strap into the back. An excited smile spread across his lips, as he climbed into the car with his wife, as he had been waiting for this day for a long time.

* * *

After dropping Libby off at school, Nick drove in the direction of the hospital, with his babbling toddler in the back. He was excited to see Greg again, but he was nervous about going back to the hospital, as his twins would be here in just two days time.

With his toddler in his arms, Nick approached Greg's room, feeling his heart pounding heavily inside of his chest, as there was a nurse in his room, giving his lover an injection. "What's goin' on?" He immediately asked, adjusting his babbling child against his side.

"It's nothing to worry about." The nurse assured him. "Just a shot of steroids to strengthen the baby's lungs. There we go, the doctor will be down soon and we'll get you a spinal tap ready too." She smiled at her patient, then made her way out of the room.

"Spinal tap?" Nick looked at Greg wide eyed, making his way over to the side of his bed. "What's goin' on?"

"I was gonna call you once I talked to Doctor Simpson." Greg spoke softly, turning on his side to look at Nick, with an almost heartbreaking expression on his face. "Baby B's heart rate started to drop again. Doctor Simpson is on his way to check me over and the baby's condition . . . they might move up my c-section." He explained, giving his husband a nervous smile, as the man took a step closer to hold his hand. "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you were staying home with Danielle, since Libby's sleeping round Casey's tonight?"

"I wanted to see you . . . did your mother call you?"

Greg nodded his head. "She and Dad are on their way in now. Looks like they're trying to beat their nephews out." He smirked, rubbing his hand across his uncomfortable stomach. "Can I hold my baby?" He reached his arms out for Danielle.

Nick carefully lifted her onto the bed, watching Greg wrapping his arms around her. "So, why didn't you call me earlier?" He asked him.

"Because... I don't wonna lose your baby, Nick. All I can do is stare at that stupid machine and watch my baby slipping away from me. I feel so helpless." The younger man spoke softly, laying Danielle down beside him on the bed to hold. He unzipped her jacket for her, listening to her babbling as she handed the doll from her hands over to him. "The Dolly isn't wearing a jacket, sweetheart. In fact, she's not wearing much of anything." He remarked, as the baby doll was in a pair of frilly knickers and odd socks.

"She took the other stuff off in the car." Nick took a seat on the edge of Greg's bed, watching the younger man tickling his little girl to make her giggle, rather than telling him what was really going on. "So, they're gonna move up the c-section?"

"Uh huh, Doc Simpson is on his way down now."

"Greg, you're not gonna lose him." Nick gently lifted his lover's hand, weaving their fingers together. "I know you; you're too strong to let him slip away from you."

Greg wanted to believe him, but he was still terrified that he wasn't strong enough to hold onto the two little lives inside of him, depending on him to survive.

* * *

"Hello, Jean." Doctor Lambert greeted his patient, as he entered the room. "Hello, Daniel." He smiled at her husband, who as usual, looked more nervous than the one having the baby. "The nurse tells me that you're only four centimetres dilated at the moment, so we'll keep you and baby monitored for now. Have your waters broken yet?"

Jean shook her head. "No, baby's still moving and I'm not spotting..."

"There is nothing to worry about, Jean." He assured her. "I know you're worried, since your last pregnancies didn't exactly go to term, but this baby is perfectly healthy. At the rate your contractions are going, we should be meeting him or her in just a few hours, and you'll see for yourself. At least you didn't go for the dramatic approach for this birth." He grinned at her. "And from the looks of it, I won't have to cancel my dinner plans either. This one's going just as quickly as Greg."

"Greg's here actually." Jean informed her doctor. "He has to wait here in the hospital, so they can monitor his twins, before his scheduled c-section on the third."

"Oh, I hate putting patients through all that waiting. That lack of noise down the hall must be his well behaved little one." He smirked, as the halls were completely silent and the proud grandmother was always bragging about her perfectly behaved granddaughter. "I'll have to stop by and see him. I haven't seen him since he was coming out of you, after all."

"He's much more mature now, I'm sure he won't pee on you again." Jean chuckled softly, remembering the unfortunate incident of her doctor getting urinated on by her newborn son.

* * *

"How are we doing?" Doctor Simpson asked, entering Greg's room.

"Pretty good." Greg answered.

He smiled as he saw Nick fast asleep on the chair beside Greg's bed, with Danielle sat on his lap, fiddling with his keys. He gave his patient a smile as he looked round at him, then reached for Greg's chart from the end of the bed, so he could check on him again.

"Are they doing okay?" The nervous young man asked, watching his Doctor checking over his charts again.

"The steroids seemed to help." He nodded, checking the time on his watch. "We might move up your c-section to tomorrow morning though. Your blood pressure is a little high, Greg, but everything else is okay. How's that epidural working for your contractions?"

"Better, I can't even feel them."

"According to this, they're still a little irregular too. Looks like one baby wants to come out, but the other doesn't." His Doctor smiled at him. "Remember, there won't be anyone to watch Danielle, while you and Nick are in surgery, so you'll..."

"I already called someone." He assured him. "I want Nick to stay with me tonight, so they're gonna be here in a few to take her home."

"Okay, I'll check on you again in a few hours, then I'll be back in the morning." He signed Greg's chart, then set it down on the end of the bed. He gave Danielle a wave as she looked up at him, then made his way out of the room.

Greg watched his lover sleeping for a few more hours, until the babysitter finally showed up. "How long do you need me to take her for?" The babysitter immediately asked, feeling a little overwhelmed already.

"Warrick, you're her god father. You realise that if something ever happened to me and Nick, you'd be looking after her fulltime." Greg reminded him, before he pointed him over to the bag behind his sleeping husband. "Take that with you. Her pyjamas and things are in it. Sara gets off work in five hours, if you can't handle her. And her car seat is in the back of Nick's truck."

"I'll get that first." Warrick carefully pried the car keys from his sleeping buddy's hands, then lifted Danielle's bag from the floor. "She's not still in diapers, is she?"

"Not exactly... she wears them at night, and she's wearing one now, because she's away from the house." Greg pointed out to him. "They're in the bag too. Ask her if she needs to go potty before bed, then she probably won't have any accidents during the night."

"Okay." Warrick nodded, then turned for the door. "I'll be back in a minute."

Greg waved him off, wondering if he was up to the task of caring for a child. He had called Sara first, but she was still working, and it would be well past Danielle's bed time when she finally got off.

* * *

As the hours passed by, Jean's contractions became more and more intense. Her doctor was hopeful that no intervention would be needed for the birth of her child, but she was frustrated with it taking it so long. She hadn't dilated any further since she arrived, and the contractions had stuck to their regular seven minutes. She tried gas and air, but it didn't seem to help with the constant pain in her sides.

"You're seven centimetres dilated now, Jean." Doctor Lambert informed her. "You and the baby are both doing fine. I know it's not in your birth plan, but I'd like to offer you an epidural for your pain."

Jean immediately shook her head. "No, I hate needles, especially ones that go where I can't see them. I can soldier through."

"Alright." He nodded to her, setting her chart down. "You know where the call button is if you change your mind, and I'll be back to check on you shortly."

Jean waved him off, then turned to look at her husband sat on the chair beside her. "Are you okay, honey?" She indicated towards his shaking leg.

"Yeah, I'm... fine." He nodded his head. "I stopped by to see Greg earlier, his c-section has been moved up to tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning?" She looked at him surprised. "At this rate, our babies are going to be born at the same time."

* * *

When he had agreed to babysit Danielle for the night, Warrick had no idea that it would be this hard for him. He was under the assumption that childcare was easy. He had fed the toddler one of the jars of pureed vegetables as Greg had said. At least, he thought that some of it went in her mouth. A lot of it ended up on her face, down her clothes or on his own shirt. He just about managed to bath her in the tub, that he never used after that, but the bed time part was a lot harder than he ever expected.

After half dressing Danielle into her pyjamas, the toddler somehow managed to wriggle away from him, deciding to scream at him in a high pitched voice, while hiding from him beneath his furniture. He decided to call in the reinforcements as the night dragged on, and the toddler was only getting more and more hyper by the minute, making Warrick more and more stressed out.

"Danielle, don't touch that."

"Danielle, that's not a toy."

"Danielle, not in there."

"That's not a toy either."

"Don't throw them."

"That's not for you."

"Danielle!"

But no matter what he said, the hyperactive child just wouldn't listen to him.

"Sara, thank god." He smiled in relief, opening his apartment door to her. "This wasn't the naked girl I had in mind for my evening."

Sara chuckled softly, rolling her eyes at him. "Where is she?"

"Follow the chaos." He pointed through his apartment.

Sara removed her jacket, tossing it over the marble counter in his kitchen, before making her way through the apartment, hearing the garbled babbling of a toddler. She stepped over the glass marbles, pillows and stationery from Warrick's desk, before she knelt down beside the three year old, who was lying on her back beneath the coffee table, singing to herself as she fiddled with the remote for Warrick's CD player, that he had finally decided to unplug, before the neighbours complained about the loud music.

"Hi, Danielle." Sara smiled at the toddler. "Whatcha doing, kiddo?"

In her own baby babble, Danielle explained to her Aunt Sara what she was doing, while she held out the sticky remote from her hands to her.

"Well, did you know that its bed time?" Sara lifted her out from under the table into her arms, then climbed to her feet, handing the sticky CD player remote over to Warrick. "Where's her pyjama bottoms then?"

"On the bathroom floor." Warrick wiped down his remote, then hurried through to the bathroom to get it for her. He watched Sara dressing her into her diaper and pyjamas, before putting her to bed in the travel cot. "Thanks Sara, you're a life saver."

"I wouldn't have to be if you weren't afraid of children, Warrick." Sara smirked, helping him clear up the mess in his front room. "You're gonna have to do this full time for your own daughter soon. And your daughter will still be in diapers, that you'll have to change." She pointed out to him.

"I know, I know. But it doesn't matter how much I prepare myself for it, I'm not father material." He slumped back onto his sofa, looking down the hall to see Danielle finally passed out in her crib. "Did you wonna take her? I'm sure she'd be better off with you."

"Nope, I think you'll be fine." Sara smiled at him, handing him Danielle's blanket from the floor. "Just don't be afraid of her. She's just a baby, and she's depending on you to survive."

"Are we talking about Danielle... or Tori?" He looked at her confused. Sara just smiled in response, grabbing her coat so she could leave. "Thanks Sara, I owe you one."

"Yeah you do." She smiled round at him, quietly leaving his apartment, so she wouldn't wake Danielle, giving Warrick a whole new set of problems.

* * *

After seventeen long hours of painful contractions, things finally starting moving along for Jean Sanders, as her waters suddenly broke and she was dilated to ten centimetres. The Doctor and nurses gloved up, getting ready for the delivery of her child, telling her how to breath, when to push and relax in between contractions.

"You're doing great, honey." Daniel set the camera down on the table beside her bed, then slipped his hand into Jean's, holding it tightly as she got ready to push again. He felt as though he was going to pass out when the nurse asked him if he wanted to look, and he saw a full head of hair sprouting from between his wife's legs.

Within a few more pushes, the baby's head was out and Jean was screaming, "Oh my god, get the pain killers now!"

"You're well past the point of an epidural, Jean." Doctor Lambert pointed out to her. "Just try to relax. It's almost out."

"It's not quick enough." She complained, gripping her husband's shirt collar tightly, as the nurses told her to push again. "God I hate you, Daniel. You did this to me, again!" She screamed at him.

Daniel tried to ignore what she was saying, taking another look at the baby, wishing he hadn't, as the room suddenly started to spin, after seeing all the blood and the tiny face of his new baby being pushed from his wife's body.

"Take a breath, honey." A nurse coached her. "Push down, push... push... that's good, honey."

Another push and the baby's arms were out. "Oh god... oh god... help me... oh god... Please, just give me the pain killers! Oh god... oh my god, help me." Jean continued to scream, pulling Daniel closer to her, as if he were her life line. "Get it out! Please, get it out!"

"Keep pushing, Jean." One of the nurses coached her on.

"Ow... please, get it out!"

"Push down, push down." The nurse continued. "Push down, keep going... push honey, push, push, push."

"Your baby is almost out, Jean." Her Doctor lifted the cord from around the baby's head, giving his patient the go ahead to push again.

Jean screamed at first, feeling a white hot pain tearing its way through her body. She gripped the bedding with one hand and her husband with the other, struggling to push her baby out, really regretting her choice to avoid any pain medication.

"Give me another big push, Jean." Doctor Lambert reached for some tools from the nurse beside him, giving his patient a smile as she gave out another push, freeing the baby from her body.

"Here they come!" The young nurse announced, taking a picture for Jean, as her husband was trying to stay focused on not passing out.

"That's it, Jean. Here they are. You have a beautiful baby . . . girl!" He lifted the baby onto her belly, clamping the cord once it was out. "Daniel, would you like to do the honours?" He handed a pair of scissors over to him, giving the nervous father a smile, as he slowly extended his shaky hand to cut the cord.

It took him a couple of tries, but he eventually cut through the cord, then took his first look at the crying baby lying on his wife's stomach. The nurses gently wiped her down with towels, clearing the fluid from her nose and mouth, only making her cry louder, but it was the most beautiful sound Daniel had ever heard.

Their baby girl finally stopped crying as Jean gently rocked her, studying her features, her tiny little pink fingers and the full head of dark brown hair.

"Happy Birthday, little girl." The nurse announced, wiping the little girl clean, while the other nurse took a few photos of her, congratulating the new parents. They eventually lifted her free from Jean's tummy, carrying her over to the warming table, where she immediately started crying again.

"Aww, she wants her Mama. We'll take you back in a second, baby girl." The nurse whispered softly to her, cleaning her off, before she measured and weighed her. "Six pounds... ten ounces." She announced. "And that's... hold still little girl, eighteen inches long."

Doctor Lambert smiled at Jean and Daniel, before he started checking the baby's heart and lungs, assuring the new parents that their newborn was perfectly healthy.

"Now let's go back to Mama." She bundled the little girl into her blanket, then carried her back over to her parents, carefully setting her down in her mother's arms.

"Congratulations you two." Doctor Lambert smiled at them both.

"My mother missed it." Jean immediately complained, making her husband beside her smile. "I can't believe her; she said she'd be here."

* * *

Once she arrived at the hospital the next morning, Greg's Nana Olaf stopped by to see him first, giving him plenty of hugs and kisses to wish him luck, before she went in search of her own daughter, hoping she wasn't too angry with her being late.

"Where's my grandchild then?" She asked, bursting into her daughter's room.

"Oh, so you actually care now?" Jean remarked, before pointing her mother over to her husband in the other chair, holding their brand new baby girl in his arms. "She was born at eleven forty five pm, last night. Weighing six pounds and ten ounces, eighteen inches long." Her daughter proudly reported.

"And... what's her name?" Her mother reached her hands out for her grandchild, carefully lifting her from Daniel's arms.

"Well, I think we've decided on the name..." Jean pursed her lips together, keeping her mother in suspense for a moment. "Georgia." She smiled towards her husband, as he gave her a nod, loving the new name for his little girl. "Georgia Sanders."

"Aww, she's beautiful." Nana Olaf took a seat on the chair beside Daniel, carefully unwrapping her granddaughter's arms to take a closer look at her. "Welcome to the family, Georgia Sanders. You're a very lucky little girl." She smiled down at the yawning little girl, then looked up at her daughter. "Congratulations, sweetheart. Has Gregory met her yet?"

"No, he was sleeping earlier." She shook her head.

"Mind if I take her through?" Nana Olaf immediately climbed to her feet, wanting to be the first to introduce Greg to his new baby sister.

Jean nodded in agreement to let her go, while Daniel decided to follow her, not wanting to let his new little girl out of his sight.

"Gregory, there's somebody very special here to meet you!" She announced, entering his room.

Greg looked up at her curiously, struggling to sit up straight to see what was in her arms. "Who's...?"

"Meet your new baby sister, sweetheart." She stopped beside his bed, gently pulling away the blanket from the baby girl, so Greg could take a closer look at her.

"Sister?" He asked, looking up at his Nana and father.

"Yeah, your baby sister . . . Georgia Sanders." Daniel lifted his daughter from Nana Olaf's arms, letting Greg hold her. "Georgia, this is your big brother, Greg I was telling you about." He spoke softly to her, watching her giving her brother a curious look. "You know, when you were little Greg, you always used to beg us for a little brother or sister to play with." His father reminded him. "Sorry she's a little late."

"I think you're forgiven." Greg smiled at him, gently holding his little sister's hand in his own. "Hi there, Georgia." He spoke softly to her, giving her a smile as she continued to give him a curious look. He looked up at his father as he immediately pulled his camera out to take the first picture of his children together. "I knew you were gonna do that."

"I have to get the first picture of the two of you together." He smiled at his son, before he pressed a kiss to the top of his son's head. "Good luck with your surgery today, kiddo. I'll come see you after, okay? I wanted to go in with you, but your Doctor will only allow one person, and I figured you'd want Nick."

"Uh huh. Believe me, I would want you there, but I want Nick to be the first to see them." Greg explained to him, handing his little sister back to his father, just as his husband walked into the room.

"Alright, I better get her back to your mother. I love you." His father whispered to him, before making his way over to the door with his daughter in his arms.

"I love you too." His Nana Olaf grinned at him, pressing a kiss to his forehead too. "You wonna meet Greg's baby sister, Georgia?" She looked towards Nick, showing him the baby beneath the blankets in Daniel's arms. "Georgia, this is your brother in law, Nick. I guess you'll be meeting your nephews later, since you beat them into this world." She smirked.

"She's beautiful. Congratulations, Daniel." Nick smiled at him, admiring the little girl in his arms that looked a lot like Greg.

Nana Olaf and Daniel wished them both luck, before they made their way back to Jean, so she wouldn't get lonely without them.

"So, you're not an only child anymore. Do you think you'll ever recover from your parent's lack of attention?" Greg's lover smirked, greeting him with a kiss.

"I think I'll survive." Greg smiled at him, relieved to see him again, as it felt like hours since the last time he saw him.

"I just bumped into the Doc in the hall; he's on his way here now." He spoke softly to him.

"Already?" Greg gave him a nervous look.

"Hey c'mon, everythin's gonna be okay, baby." He whispered, gently brushing his fingers through the younger man's hair. "What are you so worried about? You're finally gonna meet these two little monsters that have been causing you so much trouble these past few months." He smiled at him.

"Talk about something else to keep my mind of it then."

"Um... okay." Nick took a seat on the edge of his bed, holding his hands tightly in his own, as he tried to think of something to say. "Well, you've got a beautiful little sister now..."

"What was her name again?"

"Georgia." The older man chuckled softly. "You can teach her the tricks for survivin' your mother. I always wanted a little brother or sister when I was younger. I never liked bein' the baby of the family. They all had different memories of their childhood, but I was the last one, so they just gave up and expected me to find my own way."

"Don't get me depressed." Greg scowled at him.

"Sorry, I couldn't think of anythin'." Nick gave him an innocent smile, mindlessly brushing his fingertips through Greg's soft hair. "I'm just sayin', you have a baby sister to look after and teach now, and she'll always look up to you. I looked up to all of my older sisters and brother. I used to want to be just like them."

Greg rolled his eyes at his husband, cupping the man's face in his hands. "Nicky, I love you, but you're such a..."

"Don't curse in front of the babies." Nick warned him, gently rubbing his hand across the younger man's stomach. "I'm sorry; you know I always say the wrong things when I'm nervous or scared. Look what almost happened when I found out that you were pregnant with Danielle."

"Where is Danielle?"

"She's out in the waitin' room with uncle Warrick. He said that she wrecked his apartment in under an hour, and he was wearin' most of her dinner."

Greg giggled softly. "So, I guess he wasn't up to the challenge of being a father for the night after all."

"At least our child came back in one piece. You've gotta give him some credit for that." He smirked. "Oh, and Danielle told me to give you one of these." He remembered, pressing a kiss to Greg's cheek. "Sara's on her way over, she's gonna sit with Danielle, when Warrick goes in for his shift, but he promised he'd be back later to meet the twins. I called my Mama and she wants lots of pictures."

"She's not coming over?" Greg looked at him surprised, as Nick shook his head. "I guess the wedding was too much for her."

"On a better note, you have a beautiful little sister." He tried to change the subject again, realising he just moved Greg from an anxious mood to a bad one.

"You wonna ditch the older sibling and marry the younger one?" Greg teased him.

"I think that's illegal G, especially since she's barely a day old. I'll have to wait a few more years before I can date her."

"Then you'll just be the creepy old fart stalking my little sister." He chuckled, playfully tickling his husband. "I'll need your help with the sibling part. I've never had one before, you've got five."

"Six, G." He smirked. "I have five sisters and one brother. You're married to me and you can't even remember how many siblings I have."

"Leave me alone, I'm tired." Greg poked him, then closed his eyes as Nick pressed a kiss to his forehead. "What was that for?"

"Because I love you, and you're so beautiful, so I have to kiss you."

"Sometimes... I can't believe that you actually love me." Greg spoke softly, looking up into his husband's eyes. "Considering where we started with all of this, it's not that hard to believe. You were a married man with a life of your own, while I was... some guy you were sleeping with from the lab."

"You weren't just... _some_ guy, Greg. You were my best friend, still are." He pointed out to him, before he touched a kiss to the younger man's forehead. "I like it better this way though, don't you?"

"Definitely." Greg closed his eyes as Nick kissed him, sweeping his fingers through the older man's soft hair to pull him closer. He snaked his arm around Nick's neck once he pulled back for breath, clutching his husband tightly against him. "I love you, Nicky."

"About half as much as I love you." The Texan whispered back to him. He pulled back to look his lover in the eye a moment, then raised his gaze to the door, spotting Doctor Simpson, all gloved up in his hospital scrubs. "Looks like its time, baby."

Greg followed his partner's gaze, gulping hard as he saw the Doctor ready and waiting for him. "That time already, Doc?"

"Yep." He nodded, looking between the two of them. "Are you ready?" Greg looked up into his husband's eyes, weaving their fingers together, before he nodded towards the Doctor. "Alright then, let's get you ready for surgery, Greg."

"Nick, if you'll come with me. We'll get you some overalls so you can come in with him." The nurse behind Doctor Simpson instructed. Nick took a step back from Greg, watching him being wheeled away, before he followed the nurse.

Greg was quickly transferred to another bed in the theatre, before he was prepped for surgery. He felt anxious to get these babies out of him, but he didn't want them to start without Nick there. He looked up just as Nick entered the room, giving him a smile of relief.

"Can you feel this?" Doctor Simpson suddenly asked his patient. Greg shook his head, reaching both hands out for Nick, so they could begin. "Okay Greg, just lie back and relax. You may feel some pressure in your abdomen when we pull the babies out, but it's perfectly normal."

"Okay." Greg spoke softly, clutching Nick's hands tighter.

Nick relived the fearful moment of his first child's birth, as he watched Doctor Simpson making a small cut into his lover's body. He almost couldn't bear to look, but he had to know what was going on, and he didn't want to miss the birth of his twins for anything.

After the longest few minutes of Nick's life, the Doctor had finally cut through the skin and muscles, reaching one hand inside of Greg's uterus, for the first baby. A moment later, a single small leg poked out of Greg's body. Greg clutched Nick's hands tighter, feeling the pressure in his abdomen that the doctor had warned him about.

Nick gently brushed away the tear from Greg's cheek, giving his hands a gentle squeeze, before he lifted his gaze to see what was going on. He watched in fascinated as the Doctor gently removed the other leg, followed by a small stomach, chest, arms and a head, covered with short strands of brown hair.

"Here we go." Doctor Simpson lifted the baby free from Greg's body, setting him down on Greg's belly, where they clamped the umbilical cord in two places. "There's baby A." He announced, stepping aside, so the nurse could wipe the baby down.

"Whatcha foot there kiddo." The nurse smirked, as the baby moved his leg in the direction of her clamp. "Here we go Daddy, would you like to do the honours." She handed the scissors over to Nick, giving him a smile as he nervously cut through the cord.

Unlike when Danielle was born, this baby started crying, waving around his tiny arms and legs as soon as he was out. He didn't look too happy to be out, but Nick was glad that he was, feeling tears coming from his own eyes at the beautiful little baby.

The nurse carried the little boy over to the warming table to begin cleaning him, while Doctor Simpson worked on getting the other little boy out. The new fathers listened to their newborn cry, exchanging smiles, as tears of happiness spilled down their cheeks.

Greg's waters broke with the second baby, and he seemed to slide out a lot smoother than the first one, as he was a lot smaller. Nick watched in suspense as the six pairs of blood covered hands did their jobs, covering up the small baby that he wanted to see. As soon as the second baby started to cry, he could instantly tell how different they were. The first baby was much louder, screaming his little head off for attention across the room, while the second was much quieter, squirming a lot less as they clamped the umbilical cord attached to him.

"Here we go, Nick." The nurse handed him the scissors to cut the cord again, watching him cautiously cutting through the cord for their second baby. "That's it, right above the yellow clip." She nodded to him, smiling as the baby stopped crying a moment to look up at his father, before he started again.

Once Nick cut the cord, the nurse carried him over to the other warming table, gently wiping him down with the towel, while the other nurse checked his heartbeat and things.

"Congratulations Nick and Greg, you've got two beautiful little boys." Doctor Simpson proudly announced, before he started to fix Greg up.

Nick felt overwhelmed with emotions as three nurses surrounded the tables with his little boys on them, both still crying their heads off, wondering where the warm body they were living inside had gone.

Greg seemed to be a little disorientated from the way he was looking around the room, but he was still holding Nick's hand tightly, while the doctor stitched him up. He found the cries of his babies very soothing, especially after months of worrying something bad was going to happen to them.

* * *

**Thank you for all of your reviews on the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one too. The twins and Greg's baby sister are finally born :D More on the way soon!**

**~ Holly**


	30. Chapter 30: Sanders Family

**I'm really sorry about the wait for this chapter, I've been slacking on my writing lately. I recently bought a new X-box 360, so I've been busy with that after work, rather than writing. I have started some ideas for a new story called 'Real Men', (another Nick and Greg slash, but not an M-Preg) that I'm going to start posting once this one is finished though, so you'll have that to look forward to.**

* * *

**Chapter Thirty: Sanders Family**

Lifting Danielle into his arms, Nick held her up against the window of the nursery, pointing towards the two little babies, lying head to foot beside each other in the incubator. Both babies were breathing fine, but the Doctor wanted to keep them in there for a little while, to keep them warm, as they didn't have any of their baby fat yet, so they couldn't do it for themselves. "See them honey, they're your baby brothers." He whispered to her, watching her curious little eyes watching the babies. "They were livin' in your Daddy's tummy." Danielle pointed her little hand out to them, then looked up at her father. "Yep, that's them. Your baby brothers are finally here."

"Where are they?" Catherine suddenly ran up beside him, placing her hands on his shoulders to peer into the nursery, where the incubated babies were snoozing.

"You see the two little ones." He pointed them out.

"They're so tiny." Catherine leant closer against the window, looking past the plump cherub looking baby sat in his mother's arms, towards the tiny little boys. "How long have they gotta stay in there for?"

"It's to regulate their body heat, since they don't have any baby fat. They're gonna weigh and measure them in a minute." He pointed to the nurses, who were just setting up the equipment. "Are you gonna stay a while?"

"Sure." She nodded, lifting Danielle from his arms, to have a cuddle with her herself. "Are you okay, Nicky? You look a little pale." She gently touched her hand to his cheek, giving him a curious look. "Did everything go okay with Greg?"

"Yeah, he's sleepin' now." He gave her a slight nod. "I know this is meant to be the best day of my life, but it's almost the worst. I almost lost Greg and the twins."

"They're okay though, aren't they?"

"Yeah." He nodded, sounding a little unsure. "It's like we just got the chance to see them, then they were rushed away to be put in there. We're not allowed to see or hold them, until the doctors have checked them over billions of times..."

"Nicky, I know it's scary to see your babies like that, but it's just temporary to keep them healthy." She tried to reassure him, gently bouncing Danielle in her arms. "Hey, you're doing great, Nicky. Considering everything you've been through, you're doing amazing. You'll be holding your babies before you know it. Now look at your little boys, Daddy." She pointed towards them. "You have to stay strong for those little darlings, because they're gonna need their Daddy. They made it this far, have faith in them, because their Daddies are two tough customers."

Nick smiled in her direction, taking another look at his two little boys, squirming as the doctors and nurses probed and examined them, monitoring everything their tiny little bodies were doing. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"No, I know I'm right." She grinned at him, handing Danielle back to him. "So, did you and Greg decide on names yet? They're already a few minutes old; you have to name them something."

"Yeah, we decided last night. We decided on Tyler James Sanders and Oliver Joshua Sanders." He proudly stated, pressing a kiss to his toddler's forehead. "The girls helped pick them out."

"Aww, they're cute names. Can you tell which is which yet?"

"Uh huh, Tyler is the bigger one on the left. He looks like me, but his hairs slightly lighter, like Greg's. And Oliver is the smaller one, with really long eyelashes and he's got slightly darker eyes." He pointed out their differences, that he had noticed from studying them in the last few minutes. "Tyler's much louder too. He was screamin' his head off when they were tryin' to clean him, while Oliver was just lookin' around, quietly suckin' his fingers."

"Aww, you can see their personalities already." She chuckled softly, realising they each had a part of their Daddies in them.

"Mr Sanders." The nurse poked her head out the door, looking towards him. "Would you like to see your sons getting weighed? You'll have to put this on." She held up an overall, to cover the clothing he was wearing, stopping the spread of infection. "And the baby can't come in." She pointed to the toddler in his arms.

"Let me take her for you." Catherine reached her arms out for the toddler.

"Okay." He touched a kiss to Danielle's head, handing her back to Catherine, before he turned the door, being instructed to wash his hands first, before the nurse helped him to put the overalls on.

Tyler was the first to be weighed, crying out for help, as the nurse tried to steady him on the scales. He fought against the wires in his arms and on his feet, but couldn't get them loose, only making him more frustrated.

"Baby A is... four pounds... and three ounces." The nurse reported, writing it down, before she tried to measure him. "Oh, baby boy. Why are you so fussy?" She cooed, as he continued to scream. "He's seventeen inches long."

"How much did Danielle weigh?" Doctor Simpson tried to remember.

"Five pounds, twelve ounces." Nick remembered, watching his little boy squirming. He wanted to push the nurse aside to pick him up and comfort him, the way a father should, but the nurse was very determined to keep them separated, as she wanted to do her job.

Doctor Simpson stepped in next, with his stethoscope, listening to Baby A's heart and lungs again. "You're a very grumpy little one." He spoke softly, as the baby tried to push away his cold instrument, making a few frustrated grunting sounds. "He seems perfectly healthy. Nice healthy set of lungs." The Doc assured the worried father.

Once they were finished with Tyler, the nurse bundled him up again, carefully handing him over to Nick, for his first hold of his son. Tyler's cries slowly began to drown out to soft whimpers, as he felt the warmth of his father's body against him. Nick looked down into his eyes as they slowly started to open, giving him a warm smile as the tiny baby seemed to have a look of recognition across his face, as if he knew that Nick was his father already.

While Nick was busy holding his first son, the nurse lifted the second baby onto the scales. He didn't put up much of a fuss, but he didn't like lying still. He fought against the nurses hands as she tried to move him, and kicked his little legs about, jolting the numbers on the scales.

"There we go... Baby B is three pounds, six ounces." She reported.

"That means they're both above average for premature twins." Doctor Simpson assured Nick, suspecting he needed to hear the good news. "A difference between two or three pounds isn't unusual either, so I shouldn't worry. We'll put them both on feeding tubes for now; they're not big enough to take a bottle yet. They should gain some weight, before they can go home."

"And he's sixteen inches long." The nurse added, once she had measured the smaller twin.

Doctor Simpson checked over the second baby again, the same way he had done with the first, worrying Nick, as he was taking longer. He jotted down some notes, whispering something privately to the nurse, before she wrapped him in a blanket, carrying him over to Nick to hold in his other arm for a moment.

He was only allowed a short hold of the twins together, before Doctor Simpson explained that Baby B might need some help to get his lungs open a little more, so they were going to hook him up to a ventilator.

Each of the twins were placed back in the incubator together, getting hooked up to more machines, with various tubes and wires from their tiny little feet, hands and chests. They assured Nick that it was all there just to monitor them, but neither one of them seemed to like it, from the sounds of their crying, making Nick feel guilty for not being able to protect them.

"What's their names?" The nurse asked the nervous father, wanting to fill out the birth certificates.

"Oh um... Baby A is Tyler James Sanders." He watched her writing it on the birth certificate, beside the print of his tiny foot. As she pointed to the first parent line, Nick said, "Gregory Hojem Sanders," checking she spelt it correctly, before he told her his own name for the second parent line, "Nicholas Parker Stokes."

"And Baby B?"

"Oliver Joshua Sanders." Nick felt even more overwhelmed, as he actually got to look into the eyes of his children, as he said their names for the first time. He stayed to watch the babies for a while longer, holding their tiny little hands with his index finger and thumb, before he decided to go and check on Greg, hoping he would wake up soon.

"Hey, Nick." Daniel hurried down the hall towards his son in law, watching him exiting the nursery. "So, how did it go?" He asked him, taking his granddaughter off Catherine's hands.

"Fine." The shaky man answered, as he looked through the window. "They're a little worried about Oliver; he's not breathin' as well as his brother or somethin'. But you have two grandsons. They're about twelve minutes old." Nick pointed them out to Daniel. "That's Tyler, the one screamin'. They know his voice works." He smirked as they could hear him crying from the hallway.

"What about you, are you alright?" Daniel held his granddaughter, Danielle securely against his side, giving his son in law a concerned look. "You can talk to me, Nick. I'm a new father myself; I know what you're going through."

"Where is Georgia?" He tried to change the subject.

"They just whisked her away a few minutes ago, for more tests, so I came to check on my boys." He smiled at him, playfully tickling Danielle as she gave him a funny look. "C'mon Nick, let's go getcha some water or something."

"No, I'm fine. I'm gonna go check on, Greg. They gave him some pain meds to help him sleep, but I wonna be there when he wakes up. He hates hospitals."

"Okay. Congratulations, Son." Before Nick could slip away, Daniel caught him in a hug, sensing he needed it. This man meant everything in the world to his son, making him mean everything to Daniel too, as he was the man who was going to be spending the rest of his life with his son.

Nick was surprised to be receiving a hug from any kind of father figure, but he was grateful for it, as he really needed it at that moment in time.

He finally pulled back from the hug, taking Danielle off his hands, before they parted ways, wanting to find Greg. He searched the waiting room for his friends, telling them all about the twins, their birth weights and everything they had done so far, before he left Danielle with Grissom, so he could go and wait with Greg.

* * *

"Look who became the father." Brass teased Grissom, as he saw the three year old fast asleep against the man's chest. "So, how's it feel to be a Daddy to an _actual_ baby?"

"I was just watching her for a few minutes, while Nick went to check on Greg." Grissom defended himself. "What's that for?" He pointed to the basket in Brass' hands. "You haven't bought them _another_ joke present, have you?"

"You better not have." Catherine jumped to her feet, taking a look inside for herself. "Grapes, chocolates and mints?" She gave the older man a questioning look. "What's all this for?"

"I didn't know what to buy for a guy who just had a baby." The man shrugged, setting the basket down on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "So, what is it this time? Another little girl or a boy?"

"Twin boys." Catherine rolled her eyes at him. "They only just told you that a few weeks ago."

"Oh." Brass nodded, briefly remembering that conversation. "So, Sanders and little Nicky finally fathered two little boys. They're not having anymore after this though, right? Three... unusual babies are more than enough."

"Unusual?" Catherine folded her arms across her chest, glaring at him as she continued to defend Nick and Greg. "When you look at Danielle, is that all you see? So what, she came into the world a _little_ differently than other babies, but there's nothing unusual about her or her brothers."

"Okay, okay. I don't wonna start a heated argument." The detective raised his hands in defeat. "I just wanted to congratulate them on the new daughter... I mean sons." He rolled his eyes at himself. "Make sure they get that." He pointed to his cheap basket on the table, then turned for the door to leave, bumping into Warrick on his way out. "Oh, hey Brown. How's that kid of yours doing?"

"Pretty good." Warrick gave him a slight nod, even though he felt as though he was watching her slowly slipping away from him every day.

"Alright, see yah."

"See yah, Jim." Warrick waved after him, holding the door open for Libby to step inside with him.

"Hey, how's Tori?" Catherine immediately asked him, as he had left them a few minutes ago to check on her.

"She's out of surgery. She had a grade four bleed on her brain, but they've stabilised her." Warrick took a seat on one of the chairs, dropping his head into his hands as he tried to relax himself, after worrying about the life of his daughter for the past few days of her short life.

"Nick was just here, the twins are out." She tried to change the subject, moving her purse from the chair beside her, so Libby could sit down. "I believe they're calling them Tyler and Oliver. One of em has a real healthy set of lungs; the nurses need earplugs to work around him. Can I get you anything, Warrick?"

"No, I'm fine. Are they okay?" He immediately asked her, not wanting his friends to go through the same thing he was with his own daughter.

"Last I saw they were. They're in one of the incubator things though, because they don't have the normal baby body fat to keep them warm." She explained, taking a seat beside Grissom, so she was closer to Warrick, trying to comfort him. "Do you want a soda or anything, Libby?" She suddenly asked the teen, appointing herself as mother in the room. "There's some machines out in the hall, or I can run across the road and getcha some sandwiches or something."

"No, thank you. I'm fine." She shook her head, leaning back in her seat, watching her younger sister sleeping against the older man in the corner, as she realised that she now had two sisters and five brothers to take care of in the world.

"How old is Tori now?" Catherine curiously asked Warrick.

"Three weeks and... one day. They recon she's gonna be in here for a while. She has to be able to feed herself, without the feeding tube that is. She has to be able to suck, swallow and breathe at the time. And she has to be off the ventilator for a week, before she's okay to leave. At the moment, she needs it to breathe though. She might need another surgery on her heart valve and on her kidneys, they're underdeveloped or something... but she's fighting."

"That's good." Catherine smiled softly to him. "She's a strong little girl, Warrick. She takes after her Daddy. Her mother may have given her life, but her father gives her the strength to live."

* * *

After waiting at Greg's side for a few more hours, Nick finally saw his eyes fluttering open, giving him a warm smile, as the younger man turned his head to look at him. "Hey there, sleepin' beauty. I thought you were gonna sleep all day." He spoke softly, pulling his chair closer to the side of Greg's bed, so he could see him better. "How do you feel, baby?"

Fluttering his eyes open again, Greg asked, "Did I miss it?"

"You mean the birth of the quintuplets that crawled their way out of you?" Nick teased him, getting an evil scowl from the younger man. "They gave you some drugs after to knock you out. They said they'd make you kinda groggy. But you didn't miss much." He assured him, gently brushing back the sweat soaked hair across Greg's forehead. "We've got two amazin' little boys, G."

"We have?" Greg looked at him surprised, as he brushed the sleep from his eyes. "Can I see em?"

"Not right now, baby. They're kinda... well; I have to talk to you for a second." Nick climbed to his feet, perching himself on the side of his lover's bed, as he explained what had gone on, while he was sleeping. "Oliver's on a ventilator for the moment, he needs help openin' his lungs, and they're both in those incubator things to regulate their body heat, because they don't have their baby fat. But it's nothin' serious. Are you okay?"

Greg thought about his babies a moment, giving his lover a slight nod. "When can I see them?"

"As soon as you can stand, and that wasn't a dare." He quickly warned him, fully expecting him to stand up, just to see his newborn babies. "You lost a lot of blood durin' the surgery, G." He indicated towards the blood packets hanging beside the younger man's IV. "They wonna keep you in bed for a little longer too. You need your strength."

"I feel fine."

"Well you don't look it. I thought I was gonna lose you." He lightly brushed his fingers through the younger man's soft hair, staring down into his beautiful eyes. "How are you really, Greg? Tell me the truth."

"It hurts, but not that much. You look like you've been crying." Greg whispered, looking up at him. He gently reached one of his hands up, cupping Nick's cheek in his palm. "Don't you know that you should kiss me whenever I wake up?"

His husband gave him a smile, then leant down to kiss him, being careful of his slightly smaller stomach and the tubes and wires in his arms and on his chest. Despite the slight pain in his stomach, Greg wrapped his arms around his lover's neck, cuddling him tightly against his body.

"I miss hugging you without this in the way." The younger man indicated towards his stomach, breathing in his lover's scent. "I feel as though somebody stole part my body, while I was sleeping." He spoke softly, running his fingers through Nick's smooth hair. "Hey Nicky, don't zone out on me."

"I'm sorry, I missed you." Nick closed his eyes against him, trying to hide the fact that he was crying, but Greg could always tell.

The younger man instinctively hugged him tighter, pressing his lips to the side of his husband's head. "It's okay, baby. It's okay." He whispered softly, gently smoothing his hand up and down Nick's back. "I'm not going anywhere." He held him securely against him for the longest moment, until his chest finally stopped hitching, indicating that his tears were finally starting to subside. "Hey, talk to me, baby. Tell me what they look like." He whispered, trying to get Nick to talk to him.

"Oliver looks just like you." Nick finally spoke up, climbing onto the bed with Greg, as the younger man continued to pull him closer. "He's got your beautiful long eyelashes . . . and he was just watchin' the nurses. He's curious about the world around him, just like you."

"And Tyler?" Greg asked, cradling Nick against him.

"He hasn't stopped screamin' his head off, but he's okay. He's not in pain or anythin' like that, he's just loud." Nick smiled up at him. "I think he's got your pouty lips, but he looks more like me then Oliver."

"I really wonna see em now." He sighed softly, pressing his lips to Nick's forehead. "How much do they weigh?"

"Tyler was... four pound, three ounces and seventeen inches long." He remembered. "And Oliver... he was three pound, six ounces, about an inch smaller than his brother. Doctor Simpson said not to worry about the difference in their weight though. He said it's normal for twins to be about two or three pounds heavier or lighter than the other, especially since he was the smaller one the whole time."

"And he's on the ventilator?"

"Yeah, not like Tori's though. It's just to keep his airways open, to help him breathe on his own. While Tori's is breathin' for her." Nick explained, weaving his fingers together with Greg's.

"How did Tori's operation go?" He remembered.

"I haven't seen Warrick." Nick shrugged, feeling bad for not worrying about his friend's baby, as his focus was on his twins and his husband. "Grissom's holdin' Danielle for a while; she fell asleep in his arms." He spoke softly, knowing Greg was going to ask about her next. "I better go tell your father that you're awake. He wanted to see you."

"Five more minutes." Greg insisted, clutching his husband a little tighter. "I want you all to myself for a while. Better make it fifteen." He giggled softly, pressing multiple kisses to Nick's forehead. "I love you so much, Nicky."

"I love you so much too, baby." He whispered back, relieved to be able to hear the younger man's heart beating through his chest again, as he had been so worried that he was going to lose him and never be able to hear it again.

* * *

Once Georgia was checked over with more tests, she was returned to her mother, getting her first diaper change from her father, before her mother was taught how to bath and feed her, as it had been a while since she had a baby of her own. But the nurse and Nana Olaf only made her more confused, as they both had different techniques and ways of doing it.

While the ladies were arguing about how to hold the baby and bath her, Daniel and Jean's father went in search of their grandchildren, finding them in the waiting room with Nick and Greg's friends. They led Libby and Danielle back towards Jean's room, so they could meet the new baby girl of the family, before they could go and see their fathers.

"Nana!" Danielle excitedly exclaimed, as she was carried into the room by Papa Olaf.

"Hello, sweetheart." Jean smiled at her, cradling her daughter in her arms. Her father carefully lifted Danielle onto the bed beside her, watching as the small child curiously looked at the baby in her Nana's arms. "This is Georgia. Your Daddy Greg's, little sister . . . so I guess that makes her your Auntie Georgia." Jean giggled softly. "She's an Auntie already and she's barely a day old."

"Auntie of four." Nana Olaf pointed out to her.

"She looks just like Greg." Libby noticed, reaching out for the little girl's hand. She gave her a smile, glad to finally see a healthy, active baby, rather than watching her weak little sister, struggling to fight for her life. "How much does she weigh?"

"Six pounds and ten ounces." Daniel proudly reported, snapping some more pictures of them, for Jean's benefit. "Greg was six pounds and three ounces when he was born." He remembered, placing his hand on Danielle's back, to stop her from falling off the bed.

"Is Greg awake yet?" Jean asked, looking round at them all.

"Yeah, I just saw Warrick, Catherine, Sara and Grissom going in there with balloons and things." Her husband nodded to her. "You'll be able to meet your new baby brothers later too." He smiled at the girls, lifting Danielle off the bed, as she was starting to get fidgety.

"Is Oliver doing okay?" She asked, as he had been keeping her updated on the status of her grandsons.

"Yeah, he's still on the ventilator for now. The nurse said he's doing fine though. The doctor says that he really only missed out on the gaining body fat part of his development. His breathings okay, he just needs a little help to keep his lungs open." Daniel assured her, smiling as Georgia opened her eyes to look up at her family around her. "I better take you two through to see your Daddies." He suggested.

"Hurry back, your little girl has a dirty diaper with your name on it." Jean teased him.

"I love how they're always my kids when something needs changing." Daniel smirked, rolling his eyes at his wife, before he led the girls down the hall, towards his son's room. As they approached the room, they saw Catherine, Sara, Warrick and Grissom just leaving the room, after congratulating their friends on the new babies. "Room for three more?" He asked, entering the room.

"So, this is what it feels like to have a big family, huh?" Greg smirked, as there was always somebody visiting them.

"Dada!" Danielle excitedly exclaimed.

"Hello, my baby girl." Greg opened up his arms to her, grinning widely as his father carefully lifted her onto the bed with him. He touched his lips to her forehead, holding her tightly against his side, glad to be able to hold one of his babies. He reached his other arm out for Libby a moment later, giving her an equally tight hug, before he finally released them to let Nick have his share of hugs from them. "How's my little sister doing?" He asked his father.

"Great. Doctor Lambert's about ready to send her home. She's had her diaper changed and everything now. We can take the girls back with us, if you want." Daniel suggested.

"You'll have a newborn baby on your hands." Greg pointed out to him, not wanting to depend on his parents for everything.

"Your Nana and Papa Olaf are staying for a couple weeks, so they'll be more than enough people around." He assured his son. "That way, Nick can stay with you, and you don't have to worry about the girls." He insisted, not taking no for an answer. "Do you girls wonna come back with us?"

"Yeah." Libby nodded, once she broke free from Nick's embrace.

"Okay then, so are you gonna get out of bed to go and see your twins yet?" He asked his son, watching his husband shaking his head. "Why not?"

"Doc Simpson wants to check my stitches and things, before an orderly is gonna bring me a wheelchair. Apparently, I lost a bit of blood during the surgery, and now everyone's really worried about me." Greg explained, seeing the worry in his father's eyes too. "I'm fine. I feel much better without the pressure of the babies against my spine."

Just as he spoke, Doctor Simpson appeared at the door, ready to give him another check up.

Nick, Daniel and the girls had to step out the room while he was being checked over, patiently waiting for him to get the all clear, so they could take him to see his twins for the first time.

An orderly came by his room a few minutes later, ready with a wheelchair, as Greg wasn't supposed to move around too much. The orderly and Doctor Simpson helped Greg into the wheel chair, making sure none of the wires or tubes got trapped in the wheels, before they handed him over to Nick, so his family could take him to see the twins.

"There they are." Nick whispered softly to Greg, wheeling him towards the incubator. He pressed his lips to Greg's head, watching his lover's eyes examining every inch of his tiny babies. He could tell they were his almost immediately, as they looked so similar to himself and his lover.

Nick lifted his daughter from Daniel's arms, perching her against his side, so she could take a closer look at her new baby brothers. He smiled to himself, looking round at Libby, Daniel, Greg, Danielle and his new born sons, as he finally had the family he had always wanted, and even though everything wasn't completely perfect, he finally felt completely happy and at home in the life he desperately wanted to be living all along.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading. I'm sorry about the wait, I'm not sure when I'll have the next chapter up, since its coming to an end and I hate ending stories. I didn't have a beta for this one, so all mistakes are my own.**

**Please Review and let me know what you thought of it, and what you thought of the names I chose for them = Tyler James Sanders and Oliver Joshua Sanders.**

**Thanks for being so patient!**

**~ Holly**


	31. Chapter 31: Life Goes On

**Chapter Thirty One: Life Goes On**

Waking up at dawn, Nick stretched his arms out, searching for his husband's warmth. He opened his eyes as he couldn't find it, realising that he had the bed to himself. He looked towards the empty crib across the room, then scrambled to his feet, figuring out where Greg might be. After the seven weeks that the twins spent in the hospital, they were both relieved to finally be able to bring their babies home. Greg especially, as he had been spending every moment with them, either watching them sleeping or just counting their little fingers and toes over and over again.

Nick smiled to himself as he found the younger man on the sofa, changing one of his squirmy son's into a cute little onesie that still barely fit him. Although the twins had grown slightly, a lot of their clothes were still too big for them.

"Hey, baby." The Texan rasped, pressing a kiss to his lover's forehead. Greg smiled back, carefully setting the little boy from his arms, beside his brother, before he reached out to hug his husband. "Are you okay?"

"Uh huh, I just missed you." The exhausted young man nodded, turning his head to watch the boys trying to kick each other. "We've only had them home for two days, and already the house looks like it was hit by a wrecking ball."

"I'll clean up a bit before I go to work." Nick moved the bottles from the sofa, so he had some space to join his boys. "Greg, there's somethin' we need to talk about, somethin' I've been meanin' to tell you for a while."

Greg looked at him surprised, before he asked, "You don't really love me, do you?"

"Are you kiddin'?" Nick assured him, "I freakin' adore you, Greg. I'm in love with every part of you."

"Okay." He smiled in relief, reaching his hand out for his husband's, over the squirmy infants between them. "So, what is it? You know that you can tell me anything. I've proven that so far, right?"

"At the hospital," He started, anxiously biting his lower lip. He didn't mean to keep this secret from him; he just thought it was best at the time that he didn't know. "Please don't hate me for this, Greg. I meant to tell you before, I just... I wanted to wait until we had the boys home."

"Is there something wrong with them? Something the doctor didn't tell me?" The younger man nervously looked at the twins, wondering how bad it could be.

"No, it's nothin' to do with them." Nick shook his head, weaving his fingers between Greg's, before he explained, "It's about you. They told me goin' in that there could be some complications in the surgery. They said that they were rare, but you . . . you had a heavy bleed, and started haemorrhaging. They told me about the risks if they just sowed you up..."

"So . . . what?" Greg spoke softly, gulping hard as he could see the worry all over Nick's face.

Nick looked up into his lover's pale expression, wishing he didn't have to tell him, but he would eventually find out. Inhaling a deep breath, he whispered, "Greg . . . you can't have any more babies."

Greg felt as though he had just been shot or something. He couldn't believe. No more babies. He would never be able to have another little girl or another little boy. They had been planning on having more children, once the twins were a little older, how would they ever accomplish that now.

"They told me that... if they didn't remove your uterus, you would have bled to death." Nick continued, moving round the sofa to kneel in front of his husband. "They had to do it, baby, or I woulda lost you. You had to have four units of blood after they removed it, and they told me that you were still bleedin' internally after it was gone. That's why they put the drain in."

"And you told them not to tell me?"

"You were worryin' so much about the twins, I didn't want you to worry that you were gonna..." Nick struggled to finish his sentence, feeling the tears in his eyes beginning to flow. "I didn't wonna lose you, Greg. I didn't mean to keep it from you; I was tryin' to protect you."

Greg couldn't be mad with a tearful man, wearing his heart on his sleeve. He pulled Nick into his arms, cradling his head against his chest. "I know. You're always doing that." He whispered, resting his chin on Nick's head. "I love you, Nicky, I know you're trying to help, but you can't keep protecting me." He assured him, clutching him tightly. "And you're never gonna lose me."

After wiping the tears from his eyes, Nick lifted his head, looking the younger man in the eye. "I almost did... lose you."

"You know me better than that. I'm stronger than I look."

"I'm not. Without you, I'm not strong at all."

"Then you really underestimate yourself, Nicky." Wrapping his arms around the older man's body, Greg pulled him closer, pressing his lips to the side of his head. "You're the strongest man I know. We have three children, four including Libby. We can live with that, right? We're lucky."

"You think we're lucky?"

"Look around you, big guy. We're very lucky." Turning towards his gurgling twins, Greg positioned one hand beneath Oliver's little head, sliding the other under his bottom to lift him into Nick's arms. He smiled as Nick cradled the little boy against his chest, protecting him in his natural father embrace. Greg quickly turned to lift Tyler into his own arms, before he started crying, as he hated being left out. "And you know that idea you had, you know, about maybe moving away."

Nick looked up at him surprised, "Really? But I thought that you love Vegas."

"I do, but I love my family more. My mother will probably kill us for moving away, but we don't always have to factor her into our future decisions, am I right?"

Nick nodded slightly, climbing onto the sofa beside his husband again. "Are you okay though, Greg? I really didn't mean to lie to you."

"I know." Greg nestled against Nick's side, gently brushing his index finger across the back of his baby's tiny hand. "I've still got these two little ones and my baby girl, Danielle. It's not like we could afford another three or so kids, right? And we're happy, aren't we?"

Nick nodded round at him, "I am. Like you said, we have four children. We're luckier than most." He adjusted Oliver in his arms, pressing a kiss to his delicate little forehead. "Very lucky." He whispered.

Greg gave him a smile, resting his head against his husband's shoulder. "Like my Nana says, focus on what you've got, not what you could have had or wish you had." The younger man tilted his head back, looking the older man in the eye. "What you have already is more important."

* * *

"Why do I always have to wear a stupid dress?" Alexa grumpily folded her arms across her chest, glaring at her foster mother, as the woman dressed her and her sister into their best dresses. "They won't want us. They never want us. What's the point in even trying anymore, why can't you just adopt us?"

"As much as I love you two, you need a proper family with a Mom and a Dad, the kind that the Sanders' can offer to you." The aging woman explained to them, reaching for the brush to comb out young Mackayla's hair. "Just think about it a moment, Alexa, you're going to get your own room, you won't have to share a bathroom with eight other girls, and you'll be able to get some peace and quiet."

"I like it here." Seven year old, Mackayla spoke up. "Claudia, can we stay with you? Can we, Claudia? Can we stay?"

"Most people wonna adopt babies, why would they want us?" Alexa continued to complain, taking a seat in front of her little sister. "What if they don't like us? What if they try to murder us in our sleep? What if...?"

"Alexa." The woman finally cut her off, parting Mackayla's hair into pigtails. "Stop worrying about something that probably won't... No, I mean that _won't_ happen, and focus on the good. I've met with Mr and Mrs Sanders, several times . . . and they're lovely people. You'll like them." She assured the girls.

"I don't want them and they won't want us. No one ever wants us." Alexa pulled her own hair into a ponytail then pulled her baseball cap down over her head, storming off out the door.

"Alexa!" Claudia shouted after her.

"I'll go get her." Their social worker, Maggie suggested. She set down the book she had been reading to one of the other children, before she hurried after Alexa down the stairs. "Jacey, did you see where Alexa went?" She asked the pregnant adolescent, bound to the couch for her last month.

"She went in the garden." She pointed towards the back door. "Maggie, can I talk to you about the adoption of my baby again?"

"Not right now, Jacey. I'm trying to get Alexa and Mackayla sorted out." Maggie apologised, hurrying out into the garden, finding Alexa leant against the tree in the garden, kicking at the dirt with her white sandals. "Alexa, the Sanders' won't be like the Hamilton's. They want to adopt both of you, they won't separate you."

"They won't like us."

"Will you give them a chance before you start judging them, missy?" Maggie knelt down in front of Alexa, giving her a smile as she looked her in the eye. "Do you think they'd go to all this trouble of meeting you, if they didn't like you?" She asked her. "They're not judging you. They're really excited to meet you. They're a very loving family, who have plenty of room for you and your sister."

"Then why don't they just get a dog?" The eleven year old remarked, getting playfully poked in the stomach.

"Be nice and give them a chance. I know hundreds of other children who would kill to be in your position. They're a very loving family and they can't wait to meet you, so give them a chance. Please Alexa, I've been looking for a family for you two for years now. Can you just give them a chance? For me, and for your sister. She needs someone other than you to take care of her."

"I don't need them." The stubborn little girl folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not a baby anymore. I just had my birthday, I'm eleven." She reminded the woman.

"I know that, but do you really want to be separated from your sister though, Alexa?" She asked her, gently tugging the baseball cap from Alexa's head, so she could brush down her tousled fringe with her fingers. "Of course you have the right to chose who adopts you, Alexa. But I can't let you refuse to meet some people who are perfect for you and your sister."

"I'm not calling them Mom and Dad." She stubbornly told her.

"You don't have to. I think they'll find that a little strange at this point anyway." Maggie smiled at her, brushing down the rest of Alexa's hair. "I know you're going to dazzle them with your charming personality, so turn that frown upside-down, missy, and give Mr and Mrs Sanders a chance. They went through a lot of files to find yours. They fell in love with both you and your sister. I highly doubt they're going to put themselves through all this to just ditch you. So smile."

After a moment, Alexa forced a weak smile towards Maggie, asking, "Is that better?"

"Good enough." Maggie smiled at her, then climbed to her feet, ushering the child back inside the house, to finish getting her ready, "I know it's hard meeting new family's, but its different this time."

"How?"

"Martin, can you take out the trash!" Claudia's voice suddenly called through the house. "Jacob! Turn that damn music down; you know I can't stand that black rap."

"Just think of the peace and quiet you'll get living with the Sanders'." Maggie added to her case, giving Alexa a smile as the house she was living in right now, was getting more than a little crowded.

Maggie left Alexa to her thoughts, while she went to find Mackayla, as they were already running a little late.

"Percy, can you not leave you science experiments in the fridge." Claudia scolded another child, while picking up the dirty clothes that littered the floor, due to Morgan's rebellion against doing her chores this week. "Martin! The trash." She shouted again, dumping the basket beside the washing machine.

"It's not my turn!" Martin shouted over the stairs banister. "I did it last time."

"I don't care. I want you to do it now." Claudia ordered him, noticing Alexa had dirtied her white sandals already. "Alexa, go and change those shoes. Put on the pink ones, they'll go better with that dress. They don't want scruffy children coming into their house."

"I hate pink and I hate this dress." The eleven year old complained, kicking off her sandals, before she hurried up the stairs past the hyperactive triplets, towards her shared bedroom. "Abbey, I told you not to touch my stuff." She shouted, finding her eight year old foster sister, rifling through her things.

"You stole my crayons." Abbey presented Alexa with the evidence, holding them out of her reach. "Mrs Hills gave them to me."

"So? She only visited you once; she took me and Mackayla to the zoo three times." Alexa reminded her, fighting with her for the beautiful crayons that she loved to draw with. "You can't even draw!"

"Can!" She protested.

"Can't!"

"Can!"

"No you can't! Mrs Hills even took me and Mackayla to her house. She never took you there!"

"That doesn't mean she liked you more!" Abbey gave Alexa a hard shove, sending her toppling to the ground, along with the crayons.

"Girls!" Maggie burst into the room, separating the two of them. "Abbey, go downstairs and help Claudia clean up." She ushered her out of the room, watching Alexa quickly collecting up the crayons from the ground, with tears in her eyes. "Alexa, it's okay. We can get you some more crayons."

"No we can't. Mrs Hills gave them to me." She cried harder, holding the broken crayons in her hands.

Maggie pursed her lips together, realising why she was so upset. Last year, Mr and Mrs Hills had been searching for a daughter to adopt. They met lots of girls from the foster homes in the Las Vegas area, giving lots of children the promise of adoption, but decided to go with a newborn baby girl instead, breaking the hearts of several little girls, Abbey and Alexa included.

"Alexa, I promise you, the Sanders' are nothing like the Hills. You know I wouldn't let you get hurt again." Maggie assured her, gently wrapping her arms around her. "The Sanders family already love you, just from your pictures and your file alone. They just want you to like them. You're going to get a wonderful mother and a very loving father, not to mention a very hyper big brother. He couldn't stop telling me how much he always wanted a little brother or sister. And if that's not enough, you're getting a new baby sister, Georgia... I think her name was, and a very loving pair of grandparents. They're a very close family, so you'll never run out of people to love you. What more could you ask for?"

Alexa gave her a shrug, closing her eyes as Maggie lightly dabbed her cheeks with a Kleenex tissue from her purse.

"Now, no more tears. We want big sunny smiles to dazzle Mr and Mrs Sanders." Maggie smiled at her, watching Alexa giving her a slight smile. "That's a little better. Now, go wash your face. I'll go and get Mackayla and meet you by the car in five minutes. We're late enough as it is, you don't want to keep them waiting, do you?"

"No." Alexa stole a quick hug from her favourite social worker, before she made her way towards the bathroom to wash her face, wiping away the evidence of her tears.

Maggie smiled at her, before she went in search of Mackayla. "What are you doing, sweetheart?" She asked, finding the seven year old undressing her favourite doll. "I thought that you were taking Rose with you?"

"I am. She needs the pink dress." Mackayla scrambled across her floor, searching for her doll's pink dress.

Maggie took a seat beside her to help her with it, giving the young child a smile as she always acted so excited to meet new people. She remembered when Alexa used to get that excited about meeting them, but now her spirit was broken, a lot like some of the other children she dealt with on a daily basis. Maggie hoped that the Sanders' could help her to be a child again, getting her spirit back, just like her sister.

"Rose is ready." Mackayla announced, tucking the doll under her arm.

"Alright then ladies, to the car. Let's not keep the Sanders' waiting." She ushered the sisters down the stairs, waving goodbye to Claudia and the other children.

Reluctantly, Alexa climbed into the back of Maggie's car, with her sister, popping some bubble gum into her mouth, while Maggie wasn't looking. She leant back in her seat as Maggie made sure they were both strapped in, then opened her window to let some breeze in for the drive, wondering if the Sanders' would really want her after they got to know her and her sister.

* * *

"Nervous? Why are _you_ nervous?" Jean looked round at her husband wide eyed, as she fussed with her hair again. "They're just kids, honey."

"They could be _our_ kids." He corrected her, smoothing out his shirt. "I didn't have to interview to meet, Greg. He was already ours. The doctor pulled him out of you and dropped him into my arms. The meeting was simpler. The same thing with Georgia, I watched her growing inside of you, knowing she was mine and I was gonna be her father. I don't feel good enough for these girls."

"Sweetheart, have Gregory or Georgia ever complained about your fatherly skills?" She smiled round at him. "I don't think so, that's because you're the greatest father in the world, even Maggie says we're perfect."

"Maggie says we're perfect for them, but what if they don't think that we're perfect for them?"

"I love it when you worry." Jean giggled softly, pulling her husband into her arms for a quick hug. "You really don't need to worry, Daniel. All the other children that we've met so far, have loved us. And I'm a less scary size now; they won't think I'm a monster who eats children." She giggled, placing her hands on her stomach. Daniel nodded in agreement then watched as Papa Olaf walked by with Georgia in his arms, carrying her off towards the stairs. "She spit up on you again, Dad?"

"Yes." The old man groaned. "What is it with your children? Greg was always doing the same thing when he was this size too. Is this how you teach your children to respect their elders?" The grouch complained, carrying the baby upstairs to his wife, as they were looking after Georgia, while Jean and Daniel met with the children.

Jean gave her husband a wide smile, as she suddenly heard a knock at the door. She straightened out her outfit, then her husband's shirt collar, before she made her way over to the door, greeting Maggie with an even wider smile, before she looked at the two children stood in front of her.

"Hello, I'm Mackayla." The seven year old introduced herself first.

"Well, hello Mackayla. I'm Jean Sanders." She reached her hand out to greet her, giving the sweet little girl a smile, before she turned to look at her sister.

Alexa folded her arms across her chest, immediately making her younger sister copy her actions, as she always wanted to be just like her big sister.

"This is my husband, Daniel." Jean pulled him closer to her side, trying not to take the rejection from the child personally, as she knew it would take them some time to get used to her.

"This is Alexa." Maggie gently touched the eleven year olds shoulder. "Oh, and this is Rose." She pointed out the doll in Mackayla's hands. "She changed her dress especially to meet you."

"Oh, well she does look very beautiful in that fabric." Jean smiled at Mackayla. "It's lovely to meet the both of you, and that's a very pretty yellow dress that you're wearing, Mackayla. Yellow's my favourite colour, after my favourite flower." She pointed out the large vase full of bright yellow sunflowers on the centre table.

"Mine too. I love flowers. I especially love sunflowers!" Mackayla smiled at her, catching her sister scowling in her direction.

"Alright, well come on in." Jean ushered them inside, taking their jackets from Maggie's hands, to hang by the door. "We've got lots of activities for you two to choose from. I'm sure you'll like one of them."

"Do you have a dog?" Mackayla curiously asked them, following the potential parents into the house. "I love dogs. At our last foster home we had three dogs. This one black one, he was called Bonnie, the owners didn't know he was a boy when they named him... he used to eat straight off my hand. He loved pepperoni, but he hated cheese." She rambled a mile a minute.

"You'll have to excuse, Mackayla. She gets very chatty when she's nervous." Maggie explained to the parents, watching them exchanging a smile, as she was exactly like someone else they knew.

"C'mon through to the kitchen," Jean led them through. "Can I get anyone anything to drink? I've got water, juice... or milk."

"Don't you have soda?" Alexa frowned at her.

"No, we don't drink soda in this house." Jean shook her head. "If it's what you're used to, I can run out and get you some though."

"I want juice." Mackayla announced, getting tapped on the shoulder by Maggie. "Please may I have some juice, Mrs Sanders?" She corrected herself, making Jean's heart melt.

"Of course you can, sweetheart. I have apple juice, orange juice, peach or blackcurrant." Jean smiled as the adorable little girl pointed to the orange juice, giving her a sweet smile in return. "And you Alexa, what would you like to drink?" She asked, pouring Mackayla a glass of orange juice.

"Blackcurrant... please." She politely asked, looking around the strange house at the family photos on the walls.

"Oh, that's my son, Greg." Jean announced, catching her looking at the photos of him. "He's all grown up now, but he's round here practically every other day. He and his partner have two girls and they just had twin boys."

"Do we get to meet him too?" Mackayla curiously asked her, setting her glass of juice on the side, as she started to explore the interesting looking house.

"Not today, no. It's the twins' second day out of hospital, so he's going to be spending some time with them. I'm sure you'll get to meet him another day though." She assured her, handing Alexa her drink. "We've set up a few things on the table. We can either go to the zoo, I know you both love animals or there's an art fair on for young artists, I heard that you like to paint and draw, Alexa. Or we can go to the park and have a picnic; we wanted to leave it up to you two."

"The Zoo!" Mackayla shouted from across the room, fiddling with the multicoloured marbles, sat in dish on the side. "Can we? Can we go, Mrs Sanders? Can we?" She begged her, with a puppy dog look in her eyes.

"If that's what you both want to do." Jean nodded to the hyperactive little girl, looking towards Alexa for her approval. "Would you like to go to the zoo, Alexa? We can arrange to go to the park or the art fair another time."

"The zoo is fine." Alexa shrugged, humouring them for her younger sister's sake.

"Alright then, what kind of sandwiches do you like? I have ham, chicken, tuna, peanut butter, cheese, bacon... pretty much anything you'd ever want in a sandwich." She giggled softly. "I have all sorts of bread too, so what would you girls like?"

"I like tuna with mayonnaise and cucumber." Mackayla set down the marbles, hurrying back to the counter for her juice. "Alexa hates tuna, but she loves chicken." She spoke for her sister.

"Well, you seem to have everything under control. I'll be back at seven." Maggie pointed to her watch, gently patting Alexa on the back to get her to join in. "Mr and Mrs Sanders are in charge now, girls. You can tell me all about your adventure later." She smiled at them.

"I'll walk you out." Daniel stepped around the counter, walking Maggie towards her car, while Mackayla helped Jean to make the sandwiches for their picnic.

* * *

As soon as her father's truck pulled up in the parking lot, Libby grabbed her bag off the bench beside her, hurrying towards the passenger side door. She reached through the middle of the seats to gently tickle her baby sister, before she pulled her seatbelt on, giving her father a smile. "Did Uncle Warrick call you?"

"Nope." He shook his head, pulling out of the school. "Whatsup?"

"Tori." She smiled round at him, delivering the good news, "She's off the respirator and everything, and she's coming home next week. Uncle Warrick got to hold her for the first time last night. She held his fingers and Aunt Catherine said he cried."

"That's why he didn't tell me then." Nick smirked, knowing Warrick would never admit to crying over such a simple thing. "I'll hafta call him later."

"Daddy!" Danielle suddenly shouted, pointing out of her window.

Nick turned to look at her, realising she had spotted a ginger cat, running along the top of a fence. "Oh yeah, look at that. What is it?"

"Cat."

Nick smiled at her in his rear view mirror, turning his truck into the drive of their house. "Can you clean your room before rush out with Casey again." He asked, looking round at his eldest. "I told you to do it yesterday, but there's still your clothes and things all over the floor."

"O-kay." She complained, climbing out of the car. "But Casey will be here any minute."

"You can go out with her, as soon as your rooms clear." Nick assured her, opening up the back of his car to lift his three year old into his arms. "You heard what I said last time. If your don't do your chores, you can't go out."

Libby gave him a stroppy pout, slamming her father's car door shut with her anger.

Nick just smiled at her in response, before he unlocked the door. He carefully set Danielle on the floor, helping her with her jacket and shoes. Libby dumped her bag at the door beside them, then hurried to her room, surveying the mess in there, wondering where to start.

"If you had started when I told you to, it wouldn't be so messy now. It's not that hard to keep things in their place." Her father explained to her, wondering why it was so difficult for her to keep it tidy.

"Not everyone's a control freak, Nick." She glared round at him, before she ushered him out of the room, not wanting him to stand watch the whole time.

Nick reluctantly left her to it, leading his toddler into the next room to find his lover. Greg was lying on his side on one end of the bed, watching the little boys squirming beside him. He turned his head towards the door as it opened, giving his husband and baby girl a smile.

"Right on time, cowboy. Oliver's got a nasty one settling in his diaper, with your name on it." The younger man grinned towards him.

"I'm not even gonna complain." Nick assured him, lifting Danielle onto the bed with him. "After seven weeks of not bein' able to even hold them or do anythin' for them, I'll take any chance I can get to somethin' for them." He smiled at Greg, carefully lifting his little boy into his arms. Greg gave him a smile as Nick pressed multiple kisses to Oliver's forehead, before he carried him over to the change table to change him out of his messy diaper. "Warrick's gonna be doin' this soon."

"Really?" Greg looked round at him surprised.

"Yeah, he told Libby that he's bringin' Tori home next week. She's finally off the respirator."

"That's a relief, just as long as you know who doesn't find out."

"As if she'd care. She's childless, single and responsibility free, just the way she likes it." Nick pointed out to him, lifting his son into his arms, once he changed his diaper. "She didn't even bother to fight for the boys, because she didn't care enough about them. I highly doubt she's gonna pursue custody of Tori."

"Not that the courts would let her anyway." Greg reached his hands out for Oliver, taking him off his husband's hands, to put him beside his brother again. "My mother called while you were out. She's taken the girls to the zoo, and she says they're a dream. Mackayla is apparently the most adorable little girl she's ever met, and she said that Alexa is crying out for a mother to love her, even though she keeps pulling away from her."

Nick smiled at him, taking a seat on the end of the bed. "What about your Dad, what'd he say?"

"He was in love with them the second he saw them." The younger man cuddled his toddler against his chest, wondering if his parents would love them more than him.

"I know exactly what you're thinkin', and don't." His husband warned him. "Your mother told you when this all started that she _could_ never and _would_ never stop lovin' you. You're her first born."

"I'm not worried about that."

"Sure you are, you had the same look on your face after your folks started fussin' over Georgia, instead of you. You told me that you'd be glad to finally get out from under your mother's thumb, but it's gotta be hard not bein' your mother's centre of attention anymore. Just because she has three other children, doesn't mean she'll ever stop carin' about you." He crawled closer towards him, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I don't know how anyone _could_ ever stop lovin' you. From the moment I fell for you, I've loved you more than life itself."

"Did I put you in the doghouse or something?"

The older man shook his head, "No, why?"

"I wondered why you were being so nice to me, after all the bitching you put up from me for the last... eight months or so. Looking back on it all now, I feel really stupid."

"Don't." Nick gave him a smile, reaching his hand out for Greg's. "It's all forgotten. It was just your hormones, I understood that, and I don't hold anythin' against yah. I put up with a lot more than that, growin' up in a house full of girls."

"I suppose that's one of the upsides of me not being able to get pregnant again." As Nick gave him a confused look, Greg explained, "No more nightmarish hormones. It'll just be the normal me, twenty four - seven... for the rest of our lives."

"I thought you said you were okay."

"I am." Greg nodded, resting his chin on his little girl's head. "But it's gonna take me a while to get used to it. It's a miracle that I could even get pregnant in the first place, and although I was terrified at first... I'm grateful now, because we've got these amazing little people to show for it. But I can't help but think that I've been robbed of something. That's it for us, no more amazing little people. No little brothers or sisters for these three . . . and I'll never get to experience life growing inside of me again."

Nick tried to think of something to say to comfort him, but he couldn't think of anything. He didn't know what it was like to feel life growing inside of him, so he couldn't tell him something that would suddenly make it all better. He was just relieved that his family had all survived. He never thought of how Greg would feel after he gave the doctors the go ahead to remove the life giving organs from his body.

* * *

**I hope you all enjoyed that chapter. :D**

**Sorry for any mistakes, still no beta. I hope you liked the girls Mackayla and Alexa that Daniel and Jean were meeting. Don't worry; it's not the end yet. I'll try and get the next chapter to you as soon as I can.**

**Thanks for reading, Please Review!**

**~ Holly**


	32. Chapter 32: The Next Step

**Chapter Thirty Two: The Next Step**

Jean Sanders balanced her baby girl on her hip, struggling to unlock the front door. She pecked a kiss to the little girl's forehead, before she set her down in the playpen, making sure she wasn't about to burst into tears, before she hurried back to her car to bring the groceries in. Once all the bags had been brought in, she locked the door, almost tripping over something at her feet.

"Oh, hello sweetheart." She smiled at her granddaughter, as the toddler crawled across the floor with a toy truck in her hands. "Where's those fathers of yours?" She lifted the child into her arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Danielle pointed towards the stairs, where Jean could hear the sounds of laughter coming from her son.

"I didn't hear you come in." Daniel suddenly appeared, pecking a kiss to his wife's cheek. "We've finished Mackayla's room. The carpets all down and the paints almost dry. We can start putting the furniture in soon. Libby painted the sunflower for her too, it looks amazing. The boys are just finishing up with the painting in Alexa's room."

"I'll be up in a minute." She smiled, turning to press a kiss to his cheek. "Georgia's just through there. Where are the twins?" She asked, looking around for them.

"With your mother, she hasn't stopped fussing over them all morning." He pointed his wife through to the den, before he turned towards the kitchen to unpack the groceries for her.

Jean gave her husband a smile then set the toddler from her arms onto the floor, before she hurried up the stairs to inspect the rooms. She stepped into the room that would be Mackayla's first, immediately spotting the beautifully painted sunflower on the wall by the window. She gasped in amazement at the sight, as the flower looked so life like.

"Do you like it Nana?" Libby asked from the door.

"It's beautiful." Jean assured her, turning to hug her gifted granddaughter. "I'm sure Mackayla will love it too. Thank you, Libby." She hugged her again, admiring the beautiful sunflower on her hopeful new daughter's wall. "I hope Mackayla likes it. The rooms are the least of my worries; we have to learn to be a family."

"I think you'll do great." Libby assured her grandmother. "The first time I met you, I felt like part of the family."

"Well you are." Jean smiled at her, clutching her closer for a moment. "As my mother says, blood may be thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood." She winked at her granddaughter, before she made her way down the hall to the other room, checking on the progress. "Oh, it's a much darker blue than I thought."

"Alexa picked it." Greg reminded her, wiping his blue covered fingers on the denim overalls he was wearing.

"Oh I know, I just didn't think it would be this dark." She looked around at the navy blue walls, wondering if they should pick a shade lighter for her, as it didn't feel like a very girly room.

"Mom, leave the controlling thing for later in your mother, daughter relationship with her." Her eldest advised her. "You don't wonna scare her off by advising her against her favourite colour for her new room. Save until later in her life."

Jean smiled at her son, before she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "See, I told you that I was gonna need your help with this. Not just the painting of their rooms." She assured him, pulling him into her arms for a hug. "You're gonna be the best big brother these girls could ever ask for. You too, Nicky." She looked towards him, watching the surprised man turning to face her. "This isn't just for Greg. You're becoming a big brother too. You've never been a big brother before, but I know you'll be great at it. Both of you."

"Dad, Danielle wants you!" Libby shouted from the hall.

"Okay." Before Nick could leave though, Jean quickly pulled him into a hug, pressing a kiss to his cheek. Nick gave her a smile then made his way down the stairs, finding Danielle at the gate at the bottom of the stairs, clutching the bars tightly between her little hands. "What's the matter, baby girl?" He carefully stepped over the gate, checking his hands weren't covered in paint, before he lifted her into his embrace.

"She misses her Daddy." Nana Olaf spoke up, setting down one of the twins. "The boys are both fed and changed; they should be dozing off for their nap any minute now. Aren't they getting big? It's hard to believe that it's been nearly four months old already.

"Tori's nearly five months now, and she's so much smaller than these two." Greg informed her, climbing over the safety gate himself.

"Tori?" His Nana looked at him confused. "Is that the neighbour's cat?"

Greg chuckled softly, shaking his head at her. "No, that's Libby's little sister's nickname. I showed you the pictures of her last week. She lives with her father, Warrick. Remember?"

"Yes." She gave him a look of deep thought, before she responded, "I'm sure the neighbour's cat is called Tori though."

"Nope, the neighbours don't have a cat. They have a dog." Daniel pointed out to her. "You're always complaining about that thing barking all the time."

"Oh, I'm sure someone had a cat. They are growing quick though, aren't they?"

"The cat?" It was Greg's turn to give her a confused look.

"No, sweetheart. We don't have a cat." She chuckled, patting him on the cheek. "I was talking about the twins."

"Yeah, they're growin' fast. Much quicker than Danielle." Nick agreed with her.

"So, where's the rest of this paint, Dad?" Greg asked, eager to get the room finished, so they could finally sit down and have something to eat. Daniel led the way out into the back garden, leaving Nick and Nana Olaf with the babies. Oliver was quietly sucking his fingers, looking up at the mobile hanging over the crib, while Tyler was trying to put his foot in his mouth, slamming his hands either side of him whenever he failed.

"Georgia keeps doing that. She keeps trying to put everything in her mouth lately. Greg was just the same, always putting things in his mouth, even before he was teething." Nana Olaf remembered, re-tucking the hand stitched quilt around her sleeping granddaughter. She smiled at the squirming infants in the other crib, before she pointed Nick's attention towards a photo of her grandson when he was this small. "They look just like they're father, don't they? Especially Tyler, Greg was just like him at that age. They don't stay this little for long. You've gotta treasure them while it lasts. You can't always protect them when they're grown up." She gave the man a smile, before she left the room, leaving the little ones to sleep.

Nick kissed his boys goodnight, before he carried Danielle back up the stairs, letting her see the new paint job for the girls' rooms, leaving Daniel and Greg to carry the rest of the paint up the stairs, through to Alexa's room, where Jean was still a little nervous about the colour of the walls.

"You're not still moaning about it, are yah?"

"I just said that it wasn't very girly." Jean defended herself, playfully poking her son in the side. "I don't want her moving into a room that she won't like." She smiled round at Nick and her granddaughter, as they joined them in the room, taking a look around for themselves.

"She'll like it." Greg assured his mother, stepping around her to take his daughter into his arms. "So, whaddya think?" He asked her, brushing her beautiful long hair back behind her ear.

"Good." The child spoke softly, looking around the room.

"Good... is that it?" He gently tickled her, making her giggle and squirm against him. "I can't believe you're gonna be four in two months. Do you think I'll get more words out of you then? Like a whole sentence perhaps?" Danielle giggled softly as she gave him a playful shrug.

"Are we gonna get this room painted by lunch time?" Jean asked, looking at the time. "Maybe Danielle should grab a paint brush and help you out. I want to get the furniture and everything in before tonight, the girls will be here tomorrow."

"You left it a bit late to get decorating then, Mom." Greg pointed out to her, setting Danielle on the floor. "It's still gonna stink of paint in here tomorrow."

"I'll open the window and let it air out then." She moved over to the window, opening it as far as it would go, to let some fresh air in. "It wasn't my fault anyway. The moving day was set for two weeks from now, but Maggie managed to clear the paperwork quicker and Mackayla couldn't wait to live with us. It's still not permanent anyway. The girls can change their minds at any time. They seem to really love this Claudia woman, maybe they'll just want to stay with her."

"They won't change their minds and I'm sure this Claudia woman isn't anywhere near as loving as you and Dad." Greg assured her, grabbing his paint brush to finish the room. "Once they get the full experience of having a loving mother and father, the colour of their rooms won't even matter. I can't even remember the colour of my room, but I remember you guys. That's all Mackayla and Alexa will care about too."

"He's right, Jean." Nick agreed with his husband. Jean smiled at the two of them, before she left the room to start on lunch. Nick turned to look at his family once she was gone, smiling as he watched Greg helping their daughter to paint the wall.

Once the room was finished, the family gathered in the dining room for lunch, leaving the paint to dry. "Look Nicky, here's the photos we got from the arcade, the water park, the art fair," Jean handed over the stacks of photos to Nick, of her and her husband out with Alexa and Mackayla. "This one's my favourite." She held up the photo of Alexa, Mackayla and their new big brother, Greg at the water park, all wearing sun glasses, arm bands and cheesy grins. "I think I'll get it blown up and hang it over the fire place in the front room."

"I don't like that one." Greg complained, taking it off her hands. "I look like their dorky big brother."

"You are their dorky big brother." She teased him.

"Which one do you like then?" Daniel asked his son, handing him another stack of photos from their day out at the park and things. "And you're not their dorky big brother. Mackayla idolises you already." He assured his son, trying to ease his mind, knowing it was going to be a big change for Greg to give up his spot as the favourite, only child of his parents to three little girls.

"That one's not so bad." He found a picture of their family game of soccer in the park, where Greg, Alexa and Mackayla managed to beat Nick, Libby and Danielle. After the victory, the whole family posed together for a picture. It was the perfect family portrait, with everyone actually looking at the camera. No one blinked from the bright flash of the camera, and the smiles were genuine and not cheesy.

"You still cheated." Jean continued their previous argument. "You tricked Danielle into thinking that she was on your team."

"She did it out of love." Greg assured his mother, grinning towards his three year old.

"You just know that you wouldn't have won if she hadn't of helped you out. Oh, that's a good one." She held up one with the twins and Danielle, sat on the sofa together. "Mind if I steal that one to blow it up for the family room?"

"Nope, we don't mind." Nick shook his head, lifting Danielle onto his lap, as she started to wander around the table. "We're gonna have to put some more pictures up in our place. We didn't put any up from the weddin' or the twins yet."

"I can get you some doubles of these blown up pictures, even your wedding ones. We've got them everywhere round here." Jean pointed out the one in the kitchen, of her son and son in law, hand in hand on their wedding day. "Isn't Libby coming down for her lunch?"

"She's asleep." Daniel answered, before they all started to wonder where she was. "In the den, on the sofa. She just sat down for a minute, the next she was fast asleep."

"The twins are probably to blame for that. They were up at three am this mornin'. They woke everyone, but him." He pointed towards his husband, watching the younger man giving him an innocent smile.

"He could sleep through an earth quake." Nana Olaf giggled, playfully ruffling her hand through her grandson's hair. "Your mother's just the same." She smiled towards her daughter. "Shouldn't this one be off on her nap by now?" She gently tickled her great granddaughter, making her giggle.

"Her afternoon naps are usually around two or three." Greg pointed out to her, as he helped his mother to clear away the plates. "Which seem to be getting shorter and shorter as she gets older."

"You'll get used to it." Jean smiled at him, taking Nick's finished plate for him. "Pretty soon she won't be taking naps, she'll be starting school and wanting you to drop her a block away from everywhere you take her."

"Not our little girl." Greg shook his head. "We'd never do anything to embarrass her. Libby still introduces me to her friends as her father's cool boyfriend."

"I told you not to let that go to your head." His husband chuckled, climbing to his feet with Danielle in his arms. "I'm gonna put her down for her nap now, so we can put the furniture together."

"Have a nice sleep, sweetheart." Jean pecked a kiss to her granddaughter's cheek, before she got on with the washing up.

"Goodnight, precious." Nana Olaf pecked a kiss to the little girls cheek, before she helped her daughter with the plates.

Nick carried his daughter through to the front room, checking on the twins and Georgia. Greg's younger sister was still fast asleep, while the boys were just starting to stir. Nick carefully set Danielle on the sofa, helping her to remove her sneakers, so she could sleep. He then unravelled her braided pigtails, knowing that they were uncomfortable to lie on, before he tucked her blanket around her.

Danielle immediately reached her arms out for her father, making him smile, before he leant down to hug her. "Sweet dreams, baby girl." He whispered, pressing a kiss to her delicate little forehead.

"G'night, Daddy." She kissed him back on the cheek, snuggling against the pillow beneath her head. Nick gave her a smile, staying with her a moment, while she dozed off to sleep. Once she was out, he checked on the twins, lifting Tyler into his arms as he started to fuss.

"Oh there you are, I was beginning to think that you were gonna leave us to it." Jean chuckled softly, as Nick made his way into Mackayla's room, with Tyler in his arms. "Good Morning, little one. I bet you're hungry, aye? I'll tell Greg to make up some bottles when I go down." She smiled at her son in law, leaving him in the room with her husband and parents.

"You're drooling all over your father." Nana Olaf gently wiped the little boy's chin, throwing the towel over Nick's shoulder to soak up the rest. "Just like his father. Greg was always dribbling."

"Lucky for me, he's already married to me, so the embarrassing little things from my childhood won't scare him off." Greg informed her from the door, holding Oliver in one arm, with two bottles in the other. He led the way through to the spare bedroom upstairs, waiting for Nick to sit down on the bed, before he handed him one of the bottles from his hands. "Speaking of not wanting to scare you off, I found something."

"If its anythin' like that gross mould you had on your foot a couple of months ago, I don't wonna know." Nick warned him.

"No, nothing like that." His husband giggled, taking a seat beside Nick. "I meant, I found something. Research wise. There's this experimental procedure they're trying now. They can make an artificial womb. They like grow it in a lab or something. It takes one small surgery to put it inside of you, and as long as your body doesn't reject the tissue, they can implant a fertilised embryo inside and nine months later, out pops a baby."

"It sounds great, Greg, but your body's taken too much trauma as it is. I don't wonna lose you because of some experimental procedure."

"Nicky..."

"No, Greg. It sounds amazin' that they can do that, but I don't want you to go through that again. You barely survived this pregnancy."

"No, Nicky... just wait a second." Greg quickly tried to explain, "I didn't mean for me. I don't have a death wish."

"You mean... me?" Nick looked at him surprised. "Why me?"

"I was just thinking." Greg shrugged. "I know that we were joking around when we said that you'd be carrying the next baby, but this way, you could actually." He watched Nick's expression a moment, before he continued, "You really don't have to. I wouldn't put you through anything that you didn't want to do."

"I know."

Greg moved closer, adjusting Oliver in his arms to a comfier position. "You always said while I was pregnant that you wanted to know how it felt."

"Yeah, but I didn't mean literally." Nick nervously smiled in his direction, as he had always been jealous of Greg being able to get pregnant, bringing life into this world, while he was just the sperm donor. "Even so, Greg. It's only an experimental procedure, right?"

"Seven out of the ten guinea pigs so far have carried a perfectly healthy baby to full term." Greg added.

"What happened to the other three?"

"I think two of them had a miscarriage before eight weeks, and the third one rejected the tissue, but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't work for you. They must have been smokers or ex-druggies or something, you're perfectly healthy."

"I'll... think about it, Greg."

"You don't have to. It probably costs a bundle. Which we don't have. It was just an idea."

"You realise if we do, we'll have five kids to put through college." Nick pointed out to him, moving Tyler against his shoulder, so he could gently pat him on the back. "You're not like your mother, are you? Always wantin' more of what you've already got, because you've got three amazin' children already, Greg."

"I know, and I am nothing like my mother." Greg assured him. "I just didn't want you to miss out. For some reason, I'm crazy about you." He grinned in his direction. "I'm perfectly happy with what we've got. I wonna watch our children grow up, then grow old with you, because you're the only person I wonna get old and wrinkly with. No one else in the world is anywhere near as special as you."

* * *

As Jean looked around the newly decorated room that now belonged to her daughter, a smile played at her lips, as it was exactly how she used to picture her dream house. She knew that she always wanted lots of children. She had dreamed about having them from her early teens, picturing her house with all of their bedrooms inside.

Although she never expected it to turn out like this. She was glad it did or everything would have been boring and to easy to come by.

"Mom!" Greg's voice suddenly called up the stairs to her, making her smile again, as she would soon be hearing that parental nickname from her three daughters.

"Just coming, sweetheart!" She called back to him, straightening the pillows on the bed, before she turned off the light and made her way downstairs. Instead of finding her son at the bottom, she found an empty hall.

Silence echoed through the house, sending an eerie chill down her spine.

"Surprise!" Everyone jumped out from their hiding spots, with a cake decorated with the words, 'New Mom'. Streamers and balloons hung from the ceiling, that they had all carefully hidden through the day.

"Oh my... goodness." She gasped, thanking her husband, son in law, grandchildren and her own children with hugs and kisses, before she blew out the candles on the cake her mother was holding. "I don't know what to say."

"You? Now that is weird." Her son teased her.

"Shut up, you little monster. Or I'll get the photo albums out again." She threatened, knowing there was still a few phases that he went through, that he had neglected to tell his husband about.

"Well, I know that I couldn't have got this far without all of you. We may not all be blood related family, but this is the best family I could have ever dreamed of. I can't wait to see you all grow up or how much bigger our family will be in five to ten years."

"Bigger?" Papa Olaf feared. "Don't get me wrong, I love everyone in this room, but I'm not a fan of big families. I'm starting to get senile already. In five or ten years, I probably won't even be able to remember this lots names, let alone the countless grandchildren that you're going to adopt."

"I'll getcha a chart." His wife smiled at him. "Alright then, who wants cake?"

**The End**

* * *

**Author's Note:** **There it is, finally. I know it leaves you with a lot of questions and things, but that's the big surprise. I'm writing **_**another**_** sequel. The next one is called 'Deep in My Heart'. I'm pretty sure it's going to be the final one of this series, but who knows. I hope you enjoyed this story, please remember to leave me a review to tell me what you thought :D**

**And no, the research that Greg gave Nick was not true, I made it up, because it is fiction after all!**

**Thanks so much to **janet1982, Alisa123, Jazmingirl, Noyu123, Dreamer22, LittleFeileacan, Ptitenath92, ElisaFanOfSlashers, Lindz, Dark Angel Kira, CrazedCSIJunkie, almostkaity, DeliciousSin, Rachey33, JxlHarkness-Jones, nickygirl2405, TaylorMyaTaylorMya, Megan, 2cool4uso, Emma11817, BlueAngel41796, Penelope, Ariella, Kat, 3Cobra3, CMAli 1, WhenFire&IceBurn, leggomygreggo21, crayonlighting, Katsakura, S, Rainack, PainedPast97, AgentPufferfish, CrazyLeex, SunshineAndDaises, Greggo'sLittleWriter, Cllk, Medea Mordant, Fallen, Greggo-123, Stephanie, chrslghtg, mizncis **and everyone else who reviewed and favourited this story!**

**Thanks again to Alisa for your help beta-ing the earlier chapters.**

**I have a few more stories on the way too. I'll probably be posting the first chapter to my story 'Real Men' before the end of the month. Once again, Nick has children, but he's not in any sort of relationship with their mothers. It's a bit of a thriller, family drama story.**

**There's another story I was originally going to write as a one shot, but it's currently over 11 thousand words, so I'm breaking it into chapters. It's called 'Snippets of the Ranch' and it's more of a romance between Nick/Greg.**

**The Sequel to 'Family of Secrets' is called 'Keep your eyes Closed', I decided that I will post it on here after all. I'm changing it slightly so it's set shortly after the 'Meat Jekyll' episode from season ten. It's set about 18 months after the first story, so you wouldn't have missed much between Nick/Greg and AJ.**

**So that's 3 more stories to entertain you until the sequel to this one is written. Now I just have to find the time to do it :D**

**Thanks so much again for reading this story, I hope you enjoyed it!**

**Please Review!**

**Take Care**

**~ Holly**


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